Local Storage and Conditioning Systems For Nutritional Substances

ABSTRACT

Nutritional substance systems and methods are disclosed enabling the tracking and communication of changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of nutritional substances, and further enabling the adaptive storage and adaptive conditioning of nutritional substances.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/560,965, titled TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FOR NUTRITIONALSUBSTANCES, filed Jul. 27, 2012, which is a continuation of Utilityapplication Ser. No. 13/485,863 filed May 31, 2012 (Attorney Docket No.053883-032), which, in turn, claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/625,002, filed Apr. 16, 2012; and U.S.Provisional Patent Application, 61/625,010, filed Apr. 16, 2012, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/602,040, titled CONDITIONING SYSTEM FORNUTRITIONAL SUBSTANCES, filed Aug. 31, 2012, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/485,866, filed May 31, 2012, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/624,745, filedApr. 16, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/624,765, filed Apr.16, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/624,788, filed Apr.16, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/684,113, titled TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FOROPTIMIZATION OF NUTRITIONAL SUBSTANCES AT CONSUMPTION, filed Nov. 21,2012, which is a continuation of Utility application Ser. No. 13/485,863filed May 31, 2012 (Attorney Docket No. 053883-032), which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/624,992filed Apr. 16, 2012; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/625,002, filed Apr. 16, 2012; and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication, 61/625,010, filed Apr. 16, 2012, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions relate to local storage and conditioning ofnutritional substances in conjunction with the collection, transmission,and use of information regarding a current nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nutritional substances are traditionally grown (plants), raised(animals) or synthesized (synthetic compounds). Additionally,nutritional substances can be found in a wild, non-cultivated form,which can be caught or collected. While the collectors and creators ofnutritional substances generally obtain and/or generate informationabout the source, history, caloric content and/or nutritional content oftheir products, they generally do not pass such information along to theusers of their products. One reason is the nutritional substanceindustries have tended to act like “silo” industries. Each group in thefood and beverage industry: growers, packagers, processors,distributors, retailers, and preparers work separately, and eithershares no information, or very little information, between themselves.There is generally no consumer access to, and little traceability of,information regarding the creation and/or origin, preservation,processing, preparation, or consumption of nutritional substances. Itwould be desirable for such information be available to the consumers ofnutritional substances, as well as all participants in the food andbeverage industry—the nutritional substance supply system.

While the nutritional substance supply system has endeavored over thelast 50 years to increase the caloric content of nutritional substancesproduced (which has helped reduce starvation in developing countries,but has led to obesity and other problems in developed countries),maintaining, or increasing, the nutritional content of nutritionalsubstances has been a lower priority and is done in a synthetic manner.Caloric content refers to the energy in nutritional substances, commonlymeasured in calories. The caloric content could be represented as sugarsand/or carbohydrates in the nutritional substances. The nutritionalcontent, also referred to herein as nutritional value, of foods andbeverages, as used herein, refers to the non-caloric content of thesenutritional substances which are beneficial to the organisms whichconsume these nutritional substances. For example, the nutritionalcontent of a nutritional substance could include vitamins, minerals,proteins, and other non-caloric components which are necessary, or atleast beneficial, to the organism consuming the nutritional substances.

While there has recently been greater attention by consumerorganizations, health organizations and the public to the nutritionalcontent of foods and beverages, the food and beverage industry has beenslow in responding to this attention. One reason for this may be thatsince the food and beverage industry operates as silos of those whocreate nutritional substances, those who preserve and transportnutritional substances, those who transform nutritional substances, andthose who finally prepare the nutritional substances for consumption bythe consumer, there has been no system wide coordination or managementof nutritional content, and no practical way for creators, preservers,transformers, and conditioners to update labeling content fornutritional substances. While each of these silo industries may be ableto maintain or increase the nutritional content of the foods andbeverages they handle, each silo industry has only limited informationand control of the nutritional substances they receive, and thenutritional substances they pass along, and the limited information intheir control provides little utility beyond tracking product inventoryand predetermined expiration dates.

As consumers better understand their need for nutritional substanceswith higher nutritional content, they will start demanding that the foodand beverage industry offer products which include higher nutritionalcontent, and/or at least information regarding nutritional content ofsuch products, as well as information regarding the source, creation andother origin information for the nutritional substance. In fact,consumers are already willing to pay higher prices for highernutritional content. This can be seen at high-end grocery stores whichoffer organic, minimally processed, fresh, non-adulterated nutritionalsubstances. Further, as societies and governments seek to improve theirconstituents' health and lower healthcare costs, incentives and/ormandates will be given to the food and beverage industry to track,maintain, and/or increase the nutritional content of nutritionalsubstances they handle. There will be a need, not only within each foodand beverage industry silo to maintain or improve the nutritionalcontent of their products, but an industry-wide solution to allow themanagement of nutritional content across the entire cycle from creationto consumption. In order to manage the nutritional content ofnutritional substances across the entire cycle from creation toconsumption, the nutritional substance industry will need to identify,track, measure, estimate, preserve, transform, condition, and recordnutritional content for nutritional substances. Of particular importanceis the measurement, estimation, and tracking of changes to thenutritional content of a nutritional substance from creation toconsumption. This information could be used, not only by the consumer inselecting particular nutritional substances to consume, but could beused by the other food and beverage industry silos, including creation,preservation, transformation, and conditioning, to make decisions on howto create, handle and process nutritional substances. Additionally,those who sell nutritional substances to consumers, such as restaurantsand grocery stores, could communicate perceived qualitative values ofthe nutritional substance in their efforts to market and position theirnutritional substance products. Further, a determinant of price of thenutritional substance could be particular nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values, and if changes to those values are perceived asdesirable. For example, if a desirable value has been maintained,improved, or minimally degraded, it could be marketed as a premiumproduct. Still further, a system allowing creators, preservers,transformers, and conditioners of nutritional substances to updatelabeling content to reflect the most current information about thenutritional substance would provide consumers with the information theyneed to make informed decisions regarding the nutritional substancesthey purchase and consume. Such information updates could includenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance, and may further include information regarding the source,creation and other origin information for the nutritional substance.

For example, the grower of sweet corn generally only provides basicinformation as the variety and grade of its corn to the packager, whopreserves and ships the corn to a producer for use in a ready-to-eatdinner. The packager may only tell the producer that the corn has beenfrozen as loose kernels of sweet corn. The producer may only provide theconsumer with rudimentary instructions how to cook or reheat theready-to-eat dinner in a microwave oven, toaster oven or conventionaloven, and only tell the consumer that the dinner contains whole kernelcorn among the various items in the dinner. Finally, the consumer of thedinner will likely keep her opinions on the quality of the dinner toherself, unless it was an especially bad experience, where she mightcontact the producer's customer support program to complain. Veryminimal, or no, information on the nutritional content of theready-to-eat dinner is passed along to the consumer. The consumer knowsessentially nothing about changes (generally a degradation, but could bea maintenance or even an improvement) to the nutritional content of thesweet corn from creation, processing, packaging, cooking, preservation,preparation by consumer, and finally consumption by the consumer. Theconsumer is even more unlikely to be aware of possible changes tolabeling content that a creator, preserver, transformer, or conditionermay just have become be aware of, such as changes in information aboutnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance or changes in information regarding the source, creation andother origin information about the nutritional substance. Ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect a purchasingpreference or consumption preference of a consumer. Further, ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect the health,safety, and wellbeing of the consumer. It is also clear that suchchanges would best be communicated rapidly and by a means readilyutilized by a consumer.

Consumers' needs are changing as consumers are demanding healthierfoods, such as “organic foods.” Consumers are also asking for moreinformation about the nutritional substances they consume, such asspecific characteristics' relating not only to nutritional content, butto allergens or digestive intolerances. For example, nutritionalsubstances which contain lactose, gluten, nuts, dyes, etc. need to beavoided by certain consumers. However, the producer of the ready-to-eatdinner, in the prior example, has very little information to share otherthan possibly the source of the elements of the ready-to-eat dinner andits processing steps in preparing the dinner. Generally, the producer ofthe ready-to-eat dinner does not know the nutritional content andorganoleptic state and aesthetic condition of the product after it hasbeen reheated or cooked by the consumer, cannot predict changes to theseproperties, and cannot inform a consumer of this information to enablethe consumer to better meet their needs. For example, the consumer maywant to know what proportion of desired organoleptic properties orvalues, desired nutritional content or values, or desired aestheticproperties or values of the corn in the ready-to-eat dinner remain aftercooking or reheating, and the change in the desired nutritional contentor values, the desired organoleptic properties or values, or the desiredaesthetic properties or values (usually a degradation, but could be amaintenance or even improvement). There is a need to preserve, measure,estimate, store and/or transmit information regarding such nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, including changes to these values,throughout the nutritional substance supply system. Given theopportunity and a system capable of receiving and processing real timeconsumer feedback and updates regarding changes in the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances,consumers can even play a role in updating dynamic information about thenutritional substances they have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, such that the information is available and useful to othersin the nutritional substance supply system. Ideally, equipment for localstorage of nutritional substances by consumers, such as any foodpreparation appliance, storage location, portable container, tray, bag,and so forth, could interact with nutritional substance products toprovide such consumer feedback and updates. Ideally, equipment forconditioning of nutritional substances by consumers, such as any foodpreparation appliance, oven, toaster, blender, stove top, grill,microwave, and so forth, could interact with nutritional substanceproducts to provide such consumer feedback and updates. Further,equipment for local storage of medicament products by consumers, such asany medicine cabinet, storage location, portable container, tray, bag,and so forth, could interact with the medicament product to provide suchconsumer feedback and updates.

The caloric and nutritional content information for a prepared food thatis provided to the consumer is often minimal. For example, when sugar islisted in the ingredient list, the consumer generally does receive anyinformation about the source of the sugar, which can come from a varietyof plants, such as sugarcane, beets, or corn, which will affect itsnutritional content. Conversely, some nutritional information that isprovided to consumers is so detailed, the consumer can do little withit. For example, this this of ingredients is from a nutritional label ona consumer product: Vitamins—A 355 IU 7%, E 0.8 mg 4%, K 0.5 mcg, 1%,Thiamin 0.6 mg 43%, Riboflavin 0.3 mg 20%, Niacin 6.0 mg 30%, B6 1.0 mg52%, Foliate 31.5 mcg 8%, Pantothenic 7%; Minerals Calcium 11.6 1%, Iron4.5 mg 25%, Phosphorus 349 mg 35%, Potassium 476 mg 14%, Sodium 58.1 mg2%, Zinc 3.7 mg 24%, Copper 0.5 mg 26%, Manganese 0.8 mg 40%, Selenium25.7 mcg 37%; Carbohydrate 123 g, Dietary fiber 12.1 g, Saturated fat7.9 g, Monosaturated Fat 2.1 g, Polysaturated Fat 3.6 g, Omega 3 fattyacids 108 g, Omega 6 fatty acids 3481, Ash 2.0 g and Water 17.2 g.(%=Daily Value). There is a need to provide information aboutnutritional substances in a meaningful manner. Such information needs tobe presented in a manner that meets the specific needs of a particularconsumer. For example, consumers with a medical condition, such asdiabetes, would want to track specific information regarding nutritionalvalues associated with sugar and other nutrients in the foods andbeverages they consume, and would benefit further from knowing changesin these values or having tools to quickly indicate or estimate thesechanges in a retrospective, current, or prospective fashion, and eventools to report these changes, or impressions of these changes, in areal-time fashion. Consumers would want to track medicaments forspecific requirements, changes in their medicinal values, degradation,and for potential interactions with other medicaments and nutritionalsubstances they are consuming or planning to consume.

In fact, each silo in the food and beverage industry already creates andtracks some information, including caloric and nutritional information,about their product internally. For example, the framer who grew thecorn knows the variety of the seed, condition of the soil, the source ofthe water, the fertilizers and pesticides used, and can measure thecaloric and nutritional content at creation. The packager of the cornknows when it was picked, how it was transported to the packaging plant,how the corn was preserved and packaged before being sent to theready-to-eat dinner producer, when it was delivered to the producer, andwhat degradation to caloric and nutritional content has occurred. Theproducer knows the source of each element of the ready-to-eat dinner,how it was processed, including the recipe followed, and how it waspreserved and packaged for the consumer. Not only does such a producerknow what degradation to caloric and nutritional content occurred, theproducer can modify its processing and post-processing preservation tominimally affect nutritional content. The preparation of the nutritionalsubstance for consumption can also degrade the nutritional content ofnutritional substances. Finally, the consumer knows how she prepared thedinner, what condiments were added, and whether she did or did not enjoyit.

If there was a mechanism to share this information, the quality of thenutritional substances, including caloric and nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic value, could be preserved and improved. Consumers could bebetter informed about nutritional substances they select and consume,including the state, and changes in the state, of the nutritionalsubstance throughout its lifecycle from creation to consumption. Theefficiency and cost effectiveness of nutritional substances could alsobe improved. Feedback within the entire chain from creator to consumercould provide a closed-loop system that could improve quality (taste,appearance, and caloric and nutritional content), efficiency, value andprofit. For example, in the milk supply chain, at least 10% of the milkproduced is wasted due to safety margins included in product expirationdates. The use of more accurate tracking information, measured quality(including nutritional content) information, and historicalenvironmental information could substantially reduce such waste.Collecting, preserving, measuring and/or tracking information about anutritional substance in the nutritional substance supply system, wouldallow needed accountability. There would be nothing to hide.

As consumers are demanding more information about what they consume,they are asking for products that have higher nutritional content andmore closely match good nutritional requirements, and would likenutritional products to actually meet their specific nutritionalrequirements. While grocery stores, restaurants, and all those whoprocess and sell food and beverages may obtain some information fromcurrent nutritional substance tracking systems, such as labels, thesecurrent systems can provide only limited information.

Current packaging materials for nutritional substances include plastics,paper, cardboard, glass, and synthetic materials. Generally, thepackaging material is chosen by the producer to best preserve thequality of the nutritional substance until used by the customer. In somecases, the packaging may include some information regarding type ofnutritional substance, identity of the producer, and the country oforigin. Such packaging generally does not transmit source information ofthe nutritional substance, such as creation information, current orhistoric information as to the external conditions of the packagednutritional substance, or current or historic information as to theinternal conditions of the packaged nutritional substance.

Traditional food processors take nutritional substances from producersand transform them into nutritional substances for consumption byconsumers. While they have some knowledge of the nutritional substancesthey purchase, and make such selections to meet the needs of theconsumers, they generally do not transmit that information along toconsumers, nor change the way they transform the nutritional substancesbased on the history or current condition of the nutritional substancesthey receive for transformation.

Consumers of nutritional substances are sometimes given options on howto prepare nutritional substances they have obtained from the store,such as different cooking devices: microwave ovens, conventional ovens,etc., and/or limited taste preferences such as crunchy or soft. However,if the consumer desires to prepare a specific recipe, they must obtainall the proper ingredients themselves, as well as prepare the recipethemselves including which cooking appliances need to be used. Further,the consumer has no way of knowing the history or current condition ofthe nutritional substances they obtain for preparing a desired recipe.Still further, the consumer has no way of knowing how to change ormodify the conditioning process to achieve desired nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic properties after preparation. Consumerslocally store, condition, and consume nutritional substances theyacquire, but have no way to change the way they locally store,condition, and consume the nutritional substances based on the historyor current condition of the nutritional substances.

An important issue in the creation, preservation, transformation,conditioning, and consumption of nutritional substances are the changesthat occur in nutritional substances due to a variety of internal andexternal factors. Because nutritional substances are composed ofbiological, organic, and/or chemical compounds, they are generallysubject to degradation. This degradation generally reduces thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances. While not always true, nutritional substances are bestconsumed at their point of creation. However, being able to consumenutritional substances at the farm, at the slaughterhouse, at thefishery, or at the food processing plant is at least inconvenient, ifnot impossible. Currently, the food and beverage industry attempts tominimize the loss of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value,often through the use of additives or preservatives and often throughfreezing the nutritional substance, and/or attempts to hide this loss ofnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value from consumers.Consumers are left are provided with virtually no tools to help them intheir attempts to determine and minimize the loss of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substances theyacquire, locally store, condition, and consume.

Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and theirassociated limitations are intended to be illustrative and notexclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will becomeapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the followingDetailed Description.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to track changes ofnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of a nutritionalsubstance, and to minimize and/or track degradation of said values, andcollect, store, and transmit information regarding these changes ordegradation, and information related to origin and creation of thenutritional substance, from creation through consumption, including allphases of preservation, transformation, local storage and conditioning.

It is an object of the present invention to provide appliances andequipment to track changes of nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values of a nutritional substance, and to minimize and/ortrack degradation of said values, and/or collect, store, and/or transmitinformation regarding these changes or degradation, and informationrelated to origin and creation of the nutritional substance, during thelocal storage and conditioning of the nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention to modify or adapt the localstorage and conditioning of a nutritional substance to maintain and/orminimize degradation of and/or improve nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values of the nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention that information related tochanges or degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, including current nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, or information related to the origin and creation of anutritional substance, can be utilized during local storage andconditioning of the nutritional substance to confirm compliance, ornon-compliance, with general consumer requirements, or with a specificconsumer's requirements, regarding nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or regarding origin and creation of the nutritionalsubstance.

It is an object of the present invention that information related tochanges or degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, including current nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, can be used to adaptively condition the nutritional substance soas to maintain and/or minimize degradation of and/or improvenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the adaptivelyconditioned nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention that information collected bysensors of, or sensors communicating with, a conditioning appliance cancollect all types of physical attribute data by sensing a nutritionalsubstance, and that the nutritional substance can be identified and itscurrent nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic state determined, bycomparing the sensed data to a library of data for known nutritionalsubstances at known nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states, andfurther that the nutritional substance can be adaptively conditionedresponsive to: its current nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticstate; and consumer input received through a consumer interface of theconditioning appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for thetracking of changes of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues of a nutritional substance, wherein the system may collect,store, and transmit information regarding the changes of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance, andinformation related to origin and creation of the nutritional substance,from creation through consumption, including all phases of preservation,transformation, local storage and conditioning.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for thetracking of changes of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues of a nutritional substance, wherein the system may collect,store, and transmit information regarding the changes of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance, andinformation related to origin and creation of the nutritional substance,during local storage and conditioning of the nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, local storage appliances andequipment are provided to track changes of nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance, and to minimizeand/or track degradation of said values, and/or collect, store, and/ortransmit information regarding these changes or degradation, andinformation related to origin and creation of the nutritional substance,during the local storage of the nutritional substance prior toconditioning or consumption of the nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, local storage andconditioning of a nutritional substance is modified or adapted tomaintain and/or minimize degradation of and/or improve nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, during local storage orconditioning of a nutritional substance, information related to changesor degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values,including current nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, orinformation related to the origin and creation of the nutritionalsubstance, is compared with general consumer requirements, or with aspecific consumer's requirements, to confirm compliance, ornon-compliance, regarding nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, or regarding origin and creation of the nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, information related tochanges or degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, including current nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues, is used to determine adaptive conditioning parameters responsiveto said changes or degradation or current values, to adaptivelycondition the nutritional substance so as to maintain and/or minimizedegradation of and/or improve nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalues of the adaptively conditioned nutritional substance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, sensors of, or sensorscommunicating with, a conditioning appliance can collect all types ofnutritional substance physical attribute data by sensing a nutritionalsubstance, whereby the nutritional substance is identified and itscurrent nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic state determined, bycomparing the sensed data to a library of physical attribute data forknown nutritional substances at known nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic states, and the conditioning appliance further adaptivelyconditions the nutritional substance responsive to: its currentnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic state; and consumer inputreceived through a consumer interface of the conditioning appliance.

In an embodiment of the present invention information regarding a changeof nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritionalsubstances, collectively and individually referred to herein as ΔN, is:measured or collected or calculated or created or estimated or indicatedor determined in any suitable manner; stored and/or tracked and/ortransmitted and/or processed prior to transformation and/or followingtransformation, during preservation, and during local storage andconditioning, such that the degradation of specific nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values can be minimized and specificresidual nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value can beoptimized. A change of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic valuemay not occur, in which case ΔN would be zero. The change ofnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value may be a degradation,in which case ΔN would be negative. The change of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value may be an improvement, in whichcase ΔN would be positive.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for thecreation, collection, storage, transmission, and/or processing ofinformation regarding nutritional substances so as to improve, maintain,or minimize degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalue of nutritional substances. Additionally, the present inventionprovides such information for use by the creators, preservers,transformers, conditioners, and consumers of nutritional substances. Thenutritional information creation, preservation, and transmission systemof the present invention should allow the nutritional substance supplysystem to improve its ability to minimize degradation of nutritional,organoleptic and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, and/orinform the consumer about such degradation. The ultimate goal of thenutritional substance supply system is to minimize degradation ofnutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic values, or as it relates toΔN, minimize the negative magnitude of ΔN. However, an interim goalshould be providing consumers with significant information regarding anychange, particularly degradation, of nutritional, organoleptic and/oraesthetic values of nutritional substances consumers select, locallystore, condition, and consume, the ΔN, such that desired informationregarding specific residual nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues can be ascertained using the ΔN. Entities within the nutritionalsubstance supply system who provide such ΔN information regardingnutritional substances, particularly regarding degradation, will be ableto differentiate their products from those who obscure and/or hide suchinformation. Entities within the nutritional substance supply system whoprovide local storage environments, local storage containers, andconditioning appliances enabling the tracking and use of ΔN informationwill be able to differentiate their products from those that do nottrack and utilize ΔN information. Additionally, such entities should beable to charge a premium for products which either maintain theirnutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value, or supply morecomplete information about changes in their nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value, the ΔN.

Other advantages and features will become apparent from the followingdescription and claims. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, exemplify the embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain andillustrate principles of the invention. The drawings are intended toillustrate major features of the exemplary embodiments in a diagrammaticmanner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of actualembodiments nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and arenot drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a nutritionalsubstance supply system relating to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a graph representing a value of a nutritional substancewhich changes according to a change of condition for the nutritionalsubstance.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a transformationmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a transformationmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a transformationmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a graph representing a value of a nutritional substancewhich changes according to changes in multiple conditions for thenutritional substance.

FIG. 11 shows a graph representing a value of a nutritional substancewhich changes according to changes in multiple conditions for thenutritional substance.

FIG. 12 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conditioningmodule according to the present invention.

FIGS. 13 a and 13 b show formats according to the present invention bywhich a ΔN, and related residual and initial nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic values, may be expressed.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers and any acronyms identifyelements or acts with the same or similar structure or functionality forease of understanding and convenience. To easily identify the discussionof any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digitsin a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that elementis first introduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various examples of the invention will now be described. The followingdescription provides specific details for a thorough understanding andenabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant artwill understand, however, that the invention may be practiced withoutmany of these details. Likewise, one skilled in the relevant art willalso understand that the invention can include many other obviousfeatures not described in detail herein. Additionally, some well-knownstructures or functions may not be shown or described in detail below,so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description.

The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadestreasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with adetailed description of certain specific examples of the invention.Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, anyterminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will beovertly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Descriptionsection.

The following discussion provides a brief, general description of arepresentative environment in which the invention can be implemented.Although not required, aspects of the invention may be described belowin the general context of computer-executable instructions, such asroutines executed by a general-purpose data processing device (e.g., aserver computer or a personal computer). Those skilled in the relevantart will appreciate that the invention can be practiced with othercommunications, data processing, or computer system configurations,including: wireless devices, Internet appliances, hand-held devices(including personal digital assistants (PDAs)), wearable computers, allmanner of cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, set-topboxes, network PCs, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like.Indeed, the terms “controller,” “computer,” “server,” and the like areused interchangeably herein, and may refer to any of the above devicesand systems.

While aspects of the invention, such as certain functions, are describedas being performed exclusively on a single device, the invention canalso be practiced in distributed environments where functions or modulesare shared among disparate processing devices. The disparate processingdevices are linked through a communications network, such as a LocalArea Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

Aspects of the invention may be stored or distributed on tangiblecomputer-readable media, including magnetically or optically readablecomputer discs, hard-wired or preprogrammed chips (e.g., EEPROMsemiconductor chips), nanotechnology memory, biological memory, or otherdata storage media. Alternatively, computer implemented instructions,data structures, screen displays, and other data related to theinvention may be distributed over the Internet or over other networks(including wireless networks), on a propagated signal on a propagationmedium (e.g., an electromagnetic wave(s), a sound wave, etc.) over aperiod of time. In some implementations, the data may be provided on anyanalog or digital network (packet switched, circuit switched, or otherscheme).

In some instances, the interconnection between modules is the internet,allowing the modules (with, for example, WiFi capability) to access webcontent offered through various web servers. The network may be any typeof cellular, IP-based or converged telecommunications network, includingbut not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM), General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), AdvancedMobile Phone System (AMPS), Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Unlicensed MobileAccess (UMA), etc.

The modules in the systems can be understood to be integrated in someinstances and in particular embodiments, only particular modules may beinterconnected.

FIG. 1 shows the components of a nutritional substance industry 10. Itshould be understood that this could be the food and beverage ecosystemfor human consumption, but could also be the feed industry for animalconsumption, such as the pet food industry. A goal of the presentinvention for nutritional substance industry 10 is to create, preserve,transform and trace the change in nutritional, organoleptic and/oraesthetic values of nutritional substances, collectively andindividually also referred to herein as ΔN, through their creation,preservation, transformation, conditioning and consumption. While thenutritional substance industry 10 can be composed of many companies orbusinesses, it can also be integrated into combinations of businessserving many roles, or can be one business or even individual. Since ΔNis a measure of the change in a value of a nutritional substance,knowledge of a prior value (or state) of a nutritional substance and theΔN value will provide knowledge of the changed value (or state) of anutritional substance, and can further provide the ability to estimate achange in value (or state).

Module 200 is the creation module. This can be a system, organization,or individual which creates and/or originates nutritional substances.Examples of this module include a farm which grows produce; a ranchwhich raises beef; an aquaculture farm for growing shrimp; a factorythat synthesizes nutritional compounds; a collector of wild truffles; ora deep sea crab trawler.

Preservation module 300, described in co-pending application U.S. Ser.No. 13/888,353, titled “Preservation System for Nutritional Substances”,and incorporated in its entirety by reference herein, is a preservationsystem for storing, preserving and protecting the nutritional substancescreated by creation module 200. Once the nutritional substance has beencreated, generally, it will need to be packaged in some manner for itstransition to other modules in the nutritional substances industry 10.While preservation module 300 is shown in a particular position in thenutritional substance industry 10, following the creation module 200, itshould be understood that the preservation module 300 actually can beplaced anywhere nutritional substances need to be stored and preservedduring their transition from creation to consumption. It is understoodthat a nutritional substance may experience more than one preservationevent, and that such preservation events may include the local storageof the nutritional substance, such as by a consumer prior toconditioning or consumption.

A specific aspect of the present invention in achieving its goal relatedto ΔN information is to provide a system that tracks ΔN informationduring local storage or local preservation of a nutritional substance bya consumer. It is understood that a nutritional substance may experiencemore than one preservation event, and that such preservation events mayinclude any known form of local storage or local preservation of anutritional substance prior to conditioning and/or consumption,hereinafter referred to as local storage. Such local storage may takemany forms, such as the storage of refrigerated items in a refrigerator,the storage of frozen items in a freezer, the storage of wine bottles ina wine-rack, the storage of canned or dry goods in a pantry, the storageof bread in a bread drawer, the storage of fruit in a counter top tray,and any other form of local nutritional substance storage known to thoseskilled in the art. It is understood that the present inventions includethe local storage of consumable items such as medicaments, for example,medicaments stored in a refrigerator, medicaments stored in a medicinecabinet, or medicaments stored in any other known fashion.

Local storage according to the present invention can be enabled by localstorage environments according to the present invention, such as arefrigerator, drawer, cabinet, portable cooler, and any other type ofstorage environment, wherein the local storage environment is providedwith the same capabilities as the preservation module. In addition;local storage according to the present invention can be enabled by localstorage containers according to the present invention, such as storagebags, trays, resealable storage-ware, jars, boxes, bottles, and anyother type of storage environment, wherein the local storage containeris provided with the same capabilities as the preservation module. In afurther embodiment of the present invention, currently known traditionalformats of storage environments and storage containers are enabled toprovide local storage according to the present invention by beingcoupled with a coupon, hereinafter referred to as a local storagecoupon, wherein the local storage coupon provides a traditional storageenvironment or traditional storage container with the same capabilitiesas the preservation module. The local storage coupon can be attachmentto, placed within, or in any known fashion coupled with, any knownformats of traditional storage environments and traditional storagecontainers.

Transformation module 400 is a nutritional substance processing system,such as a manufacturer who processes raw materials such as grains intobreakfast cereals. Transformation module 400 could also be aready-to-eat dinner manufacturer who receives the components, oringredients, also referred to herein as component nutritionalsubstances, for a ready-to-eat dinner from preservation module 300 andprepares them into a frozen dinner. While transformation module 400 isdepicted as one module, it will be understood that nutritionalsubstances may be transformed by a number of transformation modules 400on their path to consumption.

Conditioning module 500 is a consumer preparation system for preparingthe nutritional substance immediately before consumption by theconsumer. Conditioning module 500 can be a microwave oven, a blender, atoaster, a convection oven, a cook, etc. It can also be systems used bycommercial establishments to prepare nutritional substance for consumerssuch as a restaurant, an espresso maker, pizza oven, and other deviceslocated at businesses which provide nutritional substances to consumers.Such nutritional substances could be for consumption at the business orfor the consumer to take out from the business. Conditioning module 500can also be a combination of any of these devices used to preparenutritional substances for consumption by consumers.

Consumer module 600 collects information from the living entity whichconsumes the nutritional substance which has passed through the variousmodules from creation to consumption. The consumer can be a human being,but could also be an animal, such as pets, zoo animals and livestock,which are they themselves nutritional substances for other consumptionchains. Consumers could also be plant life which consumes nutritionalsubstances to grow.

Information module 100 receives and transmits information regarding anutritional substance between each of the modules in the nutritionalsubstance industry 10 including, the creation module 200, thepreservation module 300, the transformation module 400, the conditioningmodule 500, and the consumer module 600. The nutritional substanceinformation module 100 can be an interconnecting informationtransmission system which allows the transmission of information betweenvarious modules. Information module 100 contains a database, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database, where theinformation regarding the nutritional substance resides, particularly ΔNfor the nutritional substance. Information module 100 may also contain amassive database of physical attributes of known nutritional substancesat known nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states, also referredto herein as nutritional substance attribute library, which can beutilized for determining the identity and current nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic state of a nutritional substance.Information module 100 can be connected to the other modules by avariety of communication systems, such as paper, computer networks, theinternet and telecommunication systems, such as wirelesstelecommunication systems. In a system capable of receiving andprocessing real time consumer feedback and updates regarding changes inthe nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritionalsubstances, or ΔN, consumers can even play a role in updating a dynamicnutritional value database with observed or measured information aboutthe nutritional substances they have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, so that the information is available and useful to othersin the nutritional substance supply system, such as through reportsreflecting the consumer input or through modification of ΔN.

In an embodiment of the present invention, such consumer feedback andupdates related to ΔN information are provided during the local storageof a nutritional substance. In a preferred embodiment, such consumerfeedback and updates related to ΔN information are obtained through, orprovided by, local storage environments, local storage containers, andlocal storage coupons according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the function of how a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance varies overthe change in a condition of the nutritional substance. Plotted on thevertical axis of this graph can be either the nutritional value,organoleptic value, or even the aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance. Plotted on the horizontal axis can be the change in conditionof the nutritional substance over a variable such as time, temperature,location, and/or exposure to environmental conditions. This exposure toenvironmental conditions can include: exposure to air, including the airpressure and partial pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, orozone; airborne chemicals, pollutants, allergens, dust, smoke,carcinogens, radioactive isotopes, or combustion byproducts; exposure tomoisture; exposure to energy such as mechanical impact, mechanicalvibration, irradiation, heat, or sunlight; or exposure to materials suchas packaging. The function plotted as nutritional substance A could showa ΔN for milk, such as. the degradation of a nutritional value of milkover time. Any point on this curve can be compared to another point tomeasure and/or describe the change in nutritional value, or the ΔN ofnutritional substance A. The plot of the degradation in the samenutritional value of nutritional substance B, also milk, describes thechange in nutritional value, or the ΔN of nutritional substance B, anutritional substance which starts out with a higher nutritional valuethan nutritional substance A, but degrades over time more quickly thannutritional substance A.

In this example, where nutritional substance A and nutritional substanceB are milk, this ΔN information regarding the nutritional substancedegradation profile of each milk could be used by the consumer in theselection and/or consumption of the milk. If the consumer has thisinformation at time zero when selecting a milk product for purchase, theconsumer could consider when the consumer plans to consume the milk,whether that is on one occasion or multiple occasions. For example, ifthe consumer planned to consume the milk prior to the point when thecurve represented by nutritional substance B crosses the curverepresented by nutritional substance A, then the consumer should choosethe milk represented by nutritional substance B because it has a highernutritional value until it crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A. However, if the consumer expects to consume at least someof the milk at a point in time after the time when the curve representedby nutritional substance B crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A, then the consumer might choose to select the milkrepresented by the nutritional substance A, even though milk representedby nutritional substance A has a lower nutritional value than the milkrepresented by nutritional substance B at an earlier time. This changeto a desired nutritional value in a nutritional substance over a changein a condition of the nutritional substance described in FIG. 2 can bemeasured and/or controlled throughout nutritional substance supplysystem 10 in FIG. 1. This example demonstrates how dynamically generatedinformation regarding a ΔN of a nutritional substance, in this case achange in nutritional value of milk, can be used to understand a rate atwhich that nutritional value changes or degrades; when that nutritionalvalue expires; and a residual nutritional value of the nutritionalsubstance over a change in a condition of the nutritional substance, inthis example a change in time. This ΔN information could further be usedto determine a best consumption date for nutritional substance A and B,which could be different from each other depending upon the dynamicallygenerated information generated for each.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the function of how a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance varies overa change in time and a change in a second condition, the storagetemperature of the nutritional substance. It is understood that changein time and change in storage temperature are offered by way of example,and are in no way limiting to the types on condition changes to whichthe present inventions may be applied. As an example, the change in anutritional property of milk is shown over a period of time includingits preservation at the supermarket and a subsequent period of timeincluding its local storage in a consumer's refrigerator, which is alocal storage environment according to the present invention. The graphshows that the milk is preserved at a first temperature, Temperature 1,for a first period of time indicated as 0 to 1, while at thesupermarket. The milk is purchased by a consumer at time 1, andsubsequently stored at a second temperature, Temperature 2, for a secondperiod of time indicated as 1 to 3, during local storage in therefrigerator, which is a local storage environment according to thepresent invention. It is noted that Temperature 2 is greater thanTemperature 1, and accordingly the shape of the graph changes at point Awhen the milk is taken from Temperature 1 and stored at Temperature 2.As in the preservation module, the local storage environment canidentify the milk stored within it by reading or scanning its dynamicinformation identifier (or by the consumer entering it), can communicatewith the nutritional substance information module, and accordingly candetermine the milk's ΔN prior to placement within the refrigerator, andcontinue to track the milk's ΔN while in the refrigerator. Therefrigerator is provided with a consumer interface, such as a screen,keyboard, sound system, or any known consumer interface. The consumerinterface enables the refrigerator to communicate to the consumer thatit contains the particular carton of milk, information related to ΔN,including current nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of themilk, and when the milk will reach a minimum acceptable nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value, indicated by “Minimum” on the verticalaxis of the graph. The minimum acceptable values may be automaticallyprovided by the information module, may be provided by the consumerthrough the consumer interface, or may be the higher of the two values.In this case the consumer can see how the nutritional value of the milkhas degraded prior to purchasing it, and can continue to see how thenutritional value degrades during local storage after its purchase, andwhen it will reach its minimum acceptable nutritional value. Forexample, at the time indicated as 2, the consumer can determine theresidual nutritional value of the milk, corresponding to point B and“Residual” on the vertical axis of the graph. Further, the consumer candetermine the milk's nutritional value will reach a minimum acceptablelevel at time 3, as indicated by “Minimum” on the vertical axis of thegraph, thus knowing the window of time in which the milk will maintainan acceptable nutritional level, as indicated by time 1 to 3. Further,the refrigerator can notify the consumer through its consumer interfacewhen the milk's nutritional value has reached or fallen below theminimum acceptable value.

In fact, if the consumer knows the internal temperature of his ownrefrigerator prior to purchasing the milk, he can predict thedegradation of nutritional value of the milk that will occur after hepurchases it and locally stores it in his refrigerator, thus knowing thewindow of time in which it will maintain an acceptable nutritionallevel, as indicated by time 1 to 3. For example, the consumer mayutilize an application on his smartphone to store, or even monitor, theinternal temperature of his refrigerator. When he goes to thesupermarket, he could scan the milk's dynamic information identifierwith his smartphone, and the application can communicate with thenutritional substance information module to determine a current ΔN, andpredict the ΔN of the milk when stored in his refrigerator. Further, theconsumer may utilize such an application on his smartphone to store, oreven monitor, the internal conditions of various local storageenvironments, local storage containers, and local storage coupons. Inthis way, when he goes to the supermarket, he can scan the dynamicinformation identifier of a wide variety of nutritional substances withhis smartphone, and the application can communicate with the nutritionalsubstance information module to determine a current ΔN, and predict theΔN of the nutritional substance when stored in the corresponding localstorage environment or local storage container.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the function of how a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance varies overa change in time and multiple changes in a second condition, the storagetemperature of the nutritional substance. It is understood that changein time and change in storage temperature are offered by way of example,and are in no way limiting to the types on condition changes to whichthe present inventions may be applied. In this example, the change in anutritional property of potato salad is shown over a period of timeincluding its preservation at the supermarket and a subsequent period oftime including its local storage in a consumer's refrigerator, which isa local storage environment according to the present invention, andsubsequent storage in the consumer's picnic cooler, which contains alocal storage coupon according to the present invention. The graph showsthat the potato salad is preserved at a first temperature, Temperature1, for a first period of time indicated as 0 to 1, while at thesupermarket. The potato salad is purchased by a consumer at time 1, andsubsequently stored at a second temperature, Temperature 2, for a secondperiod of time indicated as 1 to 2, during local storage in theconsumer's refrigerator, which is a local storage environment accordingto the present invention. It is noted that Temperature 2 is greater thanTemperature 1, and accordingly the shape of the graph changes at point Awhen the potato salad is taken from Temperature 1 and stored atTemperature 2. As in the preservation module, the local storageenvironment can identify the potato salad stored within it by reading orscanning its dynamic information identifier (or by the consumer enteringit), can communicate with the nutritional substance information module,and accordingly can determine the potato salad's ΔN prior to placementwithin the refrigerator, and continue to track the potato salad's ΔNwhile in the refrigerator. The refrigerator is provided with a consumerinterface, such as a screen, keyboard, sound system, or any knownconsumer interface. The consumer interface enables the refrigerator tocommunicate to the consumer that it contains the particular container ofpotato salad, information related to ΔN, including current nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the potato salad while stored inthe refrigerator. At time 2, the potato salad is taken from therefrigerator and placed inside the consumer's traditional picnic cooler,along with a coupon according to the present invention, where it isstored at Temperature 3, for a period of time indicated as 2 to 4. It isnoted that Temperature 3 is greater than Temperature 2, and accordinglythe shape of the graph changes at point B when the potato salad is takenfrom Temperature 2 and stored at Temperature 3. The local storage couponcan identify the potato salad stored within it by reading or scanningits dynamic information identifier (or by the consumer entering it), cancommunicate with the nutritional substance information module, andaccordingly can determine the potato salad's ΔN prior to placementwithin the cooler, and continue to track the potato salad's ΔN while inthe cooler. The coupon is provided with a consumer interface, such as ascreen, keyboard, sound system, or any known consumer interface, oralternatively, an application on the consumer's smartphone can enablethe coupon to communicate with the smartphone such that the smartphoneacts as the consumer interface. The consumer interface enables thecoupon to communicate to the consumer that the cooler contains theparticular container of potato salad, information related to ΔN,including current nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of thepotato salad while stored in the cooler, and when the potato salad willreach a minimum acceptable nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue, indicated by “Minimum” on the vertical axis of the graph. Theminimum acceptable values may be automatically provided by theinformation module, may be provided by the consumer through the consumerinterface, or may be the higher of the two values. In this case theconsumer can see how the nutritional value of the potato salad hasdegraded prior to placing it in the cooler with the coupon, and cancontinue to see how the nutritional value degrades during local storagein the cooler, and when it will reach its minimum acceptable nutritionalvalue. For example, at the time indicated as 3, the consumer candetermine the residual nutritional value of the potato salad,corresponding to point C and “Residual” on the vertical axis of thegraph. Further, the consumer can determine the potato salad'snutritional value will reach a minimum acceptable level at time 4, asindicated by “Minimum” on the vertical axis of the graph, thus knowingthe window of time in which the potato salad in the cooler will maintainan acceptable nutritional level, as indicated by time 2 to 4. Further,the coupon can notify the consumer through the consumer interface whenthe potato salad's nutritional value has reached or fallen below theminimum acceptable value.

It is understood that local storage environments according to thepresent invention can comprise any local storage environment for anutritional substance provided with the features enabling it to identifya dynamic information identifier on the nutritional substance, track oneor more conditions related to a ΔN of the nutritional substance,communicate with the nutritional substance information module, determinea current ΔN, track and predict the ΔN of the nutritional substancewhile stored therein, and communicate information related to the ΔN to aconsumer. Examples of such local storage environments include, but arenot limited to: a pantry capable of identifying a dynamic informationidentifier on canned or bottled goods and tracking one or moreconditions related to a ΔN of the canned or bottled goods, such as timeand storage temperature; a shelf capable of identifying a dynamicinformation identifier on dry goods and tracking one or more conditionsrelated to a ΔN of the dry goods, such as time and storage humidity; avegetable bin capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier onvegetables and tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of thevegetables, such as time, storage temperature, and storage humidity; adrawer capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier on fruitand tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the fruit, suchas time, storage temperature, and exposure to light; a medicine cabinetcapable of identifying a dynamic information identifier on medicamentsand tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the medicaments,such as time, storage temperature, storage humidity, and exposure tolight. These local storage environments may be provided with a consumerinterface, such as a screen, keyboard, sound system, or any knownconsumer interface. The consumer interface enables the local storageenvironment to communicate to the consumer that it contains a particularnutritional substance, information related to its ΔN, including currentnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance while stored in the local storage environment.

It is understood that local storage containers according to the presentinvention can comprise any local storage container for a nutritionalsubstance provided with the features enabling it to identify a dynamicinformation identifier on the nutritional substance, track one or moreconditions related to a ΔN of the nutritional substance, communicatewith the nutritional substance information module, determine a currentΔN, track and predict the ΔN of the nutritional substance while storedtherein, and communicate information related to the ΔN to a consumer.Examples of such local storage containers include, but are not limitedto: a plastic, sealable container capable of identifying a dynamicinformation identifier on dry goods and tracking one or more conditionsrelated to a ΔN of the dry goods, such as time and storage humidity; atray capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier on fruitand tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the fruit, suchas time, storage temperature, and exposure to light; a resealable bagcapable of identifying a dynamic information identifier on vegetablesand tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the vegetables,such as time, storage temperature, and storage humidity; a purse capableof identifying a dynamic information identifier a medicament andtracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the medicament, suchas time, storage temperature, storage humidity, and exposure to light; apicnic cooler capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier onpotato salad and tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of thepotato salad, such as time and storage temperature. These local storagecontainers may be provided with a consumer interface, such as a screen,keyboard, sound system, or any known consumer interface. The consumerinterface enables the local storage container to communicate to theconsumer that it contains a particular nutritional substance,information related to its ΔN, including current nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the nutritional substance whilestored in the local storage container.

It is understood that local storage coupons according to the presentinvention can comprise any form of tag, badge, transponder, label, orany other device, individually and collectively referred to herein as acoupon, placed in proximity to a traditional local storage environmentor traditional local storage container, and capable of identifying adynamic information identifier on a nutritional substance stored in thetraditional local storage environment or traditional local storagecontainer, tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of thenutritional substance, communicating with the nutritional substanceinformation module, determining a current ΔN, tracking and predictingthe ΔN of the nutritional substance, and communicate information relatedto the ΔN to a consumer. Examples of such local storage coupons include,but are not limited to: a coupon placed in a plastic container with drygood, wherein the coupon is capable of identifying a dynamic informationidentifier on dry goods and tracking one or more conditions related to aΔN of the dry goods, such as time and storage humidity; a coupon placedon a tray for holding fruit, wherein the coupon is capable ofidentifying a dynamic information identifier on fruit and tracking oneor more conditions related to a ΔN of the fruit, such as time, storagetemperature, and exposure to light; a coupon placed within a resealablevegetable bag, wherein the coupon is capable of identifying a dynamicinformation identifier on vegetables and tracking one or more conditionsrelated to a ΔN of the vegetables, such as time, storage temperature,and storage humidity; a coupon placed within a purse, wherein the couponis capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier on amedicament placed within the purse and tracking one or more conditionsrelated to a ΔN of the medicament, such as time, storage temperature,storage humidity, and exposure to light; a coupon attached to the innersurface of a picnic cooler, wherein the coupon is capable of identifyinga dynamic information identifier on potato salad stored in the coolerand tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the potato salad,such as time and storage temperature; a coupon hung in a pantry, whereinthe coupon is capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier oncanned or bottled goods and tracking one or more conditions related to aΔN of the canned or bottled goods, such as time and storage temperature;a coupon attached to a shelf, wherein the coupon is capable ofidentifying a dynamic information identifier on dry goods and trackingone or more conditions related to a ΔN of the dry goods, such as timeand storage humidity; a coupon attached to an inner surface of avegetable bin, wherein the coupon is capable of identifying a dynamicinformation identifier on vegetables and tracking one or more conditionsrelated to a ΔN of the vegetables, such as time, storage temperature,and storage humidity; a coupon placed within a drawer, wherein thecoupon is capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier onfruit and tracking one or more conditions related to a ΔN of the fruit,such as time, storage temperature, and exposure to light; a couponattached to the inner surface of a medicine cabinet, wherein the couponis capable of identifying a dynamic information identifier onmedicaments and track one or more conditions related to a ΔN of themedicaments, such as time, storage temperature, storage humidity, andexposure to light.

In FIG. 1, Creation module 200 can dynamically encode nutritionalsubstances to enable the tracking of changes in nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, orΔN. This dynamic encoding, also referred to herein as a dynamicinformation identifier, can replace and/or complement existingnutritional substance marking systems such as barcodes, labels, and/orink markings. This dynamic encoding, or dynamic information identifier,can be used to make nutritional substance information from creationmodule 200 available to information module 100 for use by preservationmodule 300, transformation module 400, conditioning module 500, and/orconsumption module 600, which includes the ultimate consumer of thenutritional substance. One method of marking the nutritional substancewith a dynamic information identifier by creation module 200, or anyother module in nutritional supply system 10, could include anelectronic tagging system, such as the tagging system manufactured byKovio of San Jose, Calif., USA. Such thin film chips can be used notonly for tracking nutritional substances, but can include components tomeasure attributes of nutritional substances, and record and transmitsuch information. Such information may be readable by a reader includinga satellite-based system. Such a satellite-based nutritional substanceinformation tracking system could comprise a network of satellites withcoverage of some or all the surface of the earth, so as to allow thedynamic nutritional value database of information module 100 real time,or near real time updates about a ΔN of a particular nutritionalsubstance.

Preservation module 300 includes packers and shippers of nutritionalsubstances. The tracking of changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or a ΔN, during the preservation period withinpreservation module 300 allows for dynamic expiration dates fornutritional substances. For example, expiration dates for dairy productsare currently based generally only on time using assumptions regardingminimal conditions at which dairy products are maintained. Thisextrapolated expiration date is based on a worst-case scenario for whenthe product becomes unsafe to consume during the preservation period. Inreality, the degradation of dairy products may be significantly lessthan this worst-case. If preservation module 300 could measure or derivethe actual degradation information such as ΔN, an actual expirationdate, referred to herein as a dynamic expiration date, can be determineddynamically, and could be significantly later in time than anextrapolated expiration date. This would allow the nutritional substancesupply system to dispose of fewer products due to expiration dates. Thisability to dynamically generate expiration dates for nutritionalsubstances is of particular significance when nutritional substancescontain few or no preservatives. Such products are highly valuedthroughout nutritional substance supply system 10, including consumerswho are willing to pay a premium for nutritional substances with few orno preservatives.

It should be noted that a dynamic expiration date need not be indicatednumerically (i.e., as a numerical date) but could be indicatedsymbolically as by the use of colors—such as green, yellow and redemployed on semaphores—or other designations. In those instances, thedynamic expiration date would not be interpreted literally but, rather,as a dynamically-determined advisory date. In practice a dynamicexpiration date will be provided for at least one component of a singleor multi-component nutritional substance. For multi-componentnutritional substances, the dynamic expiration date could be interpretedas a “best’ date for consumption for particular components.

By law, in many localities, food processors such as those intransformation module 400 are required to provide nutritional substanceinformation regarding their products. Often, this information takes theform of a nutritional table applied to the packaging of the nutritionalsubstance. Currently, the information in this nutritional table is basedon averages or minimums for their typical product. Using the nutritionalsubstance information from information module 100 provided by creationmodule 200, preservation module 300, and/or information from thetransformation of the nutritional substance by transformation module400, and consumer feedback and updates related to ΔN, preferablyobtained through or provided by local storage environments, localstorage containers, and local storage coupons according to the presentinvention, the food processor could include a dynamically generatednutritional value table, also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value table, for the actual nutritional substance beingsupplied to a consumer and further being locally stored by the consumer.The information in such a dynamic nutritional value table could be usedby conditioning module 500 in the preparation of the nutritionalsubstance, and/or used by consumption module 600, so as to allow theultimate consumer the ability to select the most desirable nutritionalsubstance which meets their needs, and/or to track information regardingnutritional substances consumed.

Information about changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues of nutritional substances, or ΔN, is particularly useful in theconditioning module 500 of the present invention, as it allows knowing,or estimating, the pre-conditioning state of the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance,including the changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues occurring during local storage of the nutritional substance, andfurther allows for estimation of a ΔN associated with proposedconditioning parameters. The conditioning module 500 can thereforecreate conditioning parameters, such as by modifying existing orbaseline conditioning parameters, to deliver desired nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values after conditioning. Thepre-conditioning state of the nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value of a nutritional substance is not tracked or provided tothe consumer by existing conditioners, nor is the ΔN expected from aproposed conditioning tracked or provided to the consumer either beforeor after conditioning. However, using information provided byinformation module 100 from creation module 200, preservation module300, transformation module 400, and consumer feedback and updatesrelated to ΔN, preferably obtained through or provided by local storageenvironments, local storage containers, and local storage couponsaccording to the present invention, and/or information measured orgenerated by conditioning module 500, and/or consumer input providedthrough the conditioning module 500, conditioning module 500 couldprovide the consumer with the actual, and/or estimated change innutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance, or ΔN.

An important benefit provided by local storage environments, localstorage containers, and local storage coupons of the present inventionis that consumer feedback and updates related to ΔN, such as observed ormeasured information of, or related to, a ΔN during local storage of thenutritional substance is obtained through, or provided by, the localstorage environments, containers, and coupons. In this way consumerfeedback and updates related to a ΔN during local storage of anutritional substance can play a role in updating the dynamicnutritional value information about the nutritional substances consumershave purchased and placed in local storage, such as through modificationof ΔN. Such information regarding the change to nutritional,organoleptic and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, or ΔN,could be provided not only to a consumer through the consumption module600 and conditioning module 500, but could also be provided toinformation module 100 for use by creation module 200, preservationmodule 300, transformation module 400, so as to track, and possiblyimprove nutritional substances throughout the entire nutritionalsubstance supply system 10.

The information regarding nutritional substances provided by informationmodule 100 to consumption module 600 can replace or complement existinginformation sources such as recipe books, food databases likewww.epicurious.com, and Epicurious apps. Through the use of specificinformation regarding a nutritional substance from information module100, consumers can use consumption module 600 to select nutritionalsubstances according to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues. This will further allow consumers to make informed decisionsregarding nutritional substance additives, preservatives, geneticmodifications, origins, traceability, and other nutritional substanceattributes that may also be tracked through the information module 100.This information can be provided by consumption module 600 throughpersonal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and/orsmartphones. Software running on these devices can include dedicatedcomputer programs, modules within general programs, and/or smartphoneapps. An example of such a smartphone app regarding nutritionalsubstances is the iOS ShopNoGMO from the Institute for ResponsibleTechnology. This iPhone app allows consumers access to informationregarding non-genetically modified organisms they may select.Additionally, consumption module 600 may provide information for theconsumer to operate conditioning module 500 in such a manner as tooptimize nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of anutritional substance and/or component nutritional substances thereof,according to the consumer's needs or preference or according to targetvalues established by the provider of the nutritional substance, such asthe transformer, and/or minimize degradation of, preserve, or improvenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance and/or component nutritional substances thereof.

Through the use of nutritional substance information available frominformation module 100 nutritional substance supply system 10 can tracknutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Using thisinformation, nutritional substances travelling through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10 can be dynamically valued and pricedaccording to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values. Forexample, nutritional substances with longer dynamic expiration dates(longer shelf life) may be more highly valued than nutritionalsubstances with shorter expiration dates. Additionally, nutritionalsubstances with higher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues may be more highly valued, not just by the consumer, but also byeach entity within nutritional substance supply system 10. This isbecause each entity will want to start with a nutritional substance withhigher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value before itperforms its function and passes the nutritional substance along to thenext entity. Therefore, both the starting nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value and the ΔN associated with those values areimportant factors in determining or estimating an actual, or residual,nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance, and accordingly are important factors in establishingdynamically valued and priced nutritional substances.

The use of local storage environments, local storage containers, andlocal storage coupons according to the present invention makesinformation related to a ΔN of a locally stored nutritional substanceavailable to information module 100, so that information available frominformation module 100 can enable a consumer, or any entity inside oroutside the nutritional substance supply system 10, to tracknutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritionalsubstance during its local storage. It is understood that such localstorage includes local storage by any entity that prepares or otherwiseconditions nutritional substances for consumption by a consumer, andcould include the consumer's residence, a restaurant, a hospital, asports arena, a vending machine, or any other known entity providingnutritional substances for consumption.

During the period of implementation of the present inventions, therewill be nutritional substances being marketed including those benefitingfrom the tracking of dynamic nutritional information such as ΔN, alsoreferred to herein as information-enabled nutritional substances, andnutritional substances which do not benefit from the tracking of dynamicnutritional information such as ΔN, which are not information enabledand are referred to herein as dumb nutritional substances.Information-enabled nutritional substances would be available in virtualinternet marketplaces, as well as traditional marketplaces. Because ofinformation provided by information-enabled nutritional substances,entities within the nutritional substance supply system 10, includingconsumers, would be able to review and select information-enablednutritional substances for purchase. It should be expected that,initially, the information-enabled nutritional substances would enjoy ahigher market value and price than dumb nutritional substances. However,as information-enabled nutritional substances become more the norm, thecost savings from less waste due to degradation of information-enablednutritional substances could lead to their price actually becoming lessthan dumb nutritional substances.

For example, the producer of a ready-to-eat dinner would prefer to usecorn of a high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value in theproduction of its product, the ready-to-eat dinner, so as to produce apremium product of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalue. Depending upon the levels of the nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values, the ready-to-eat dinner producer may be able tocharge a premium price and/or differentiate its product from that ofother producers. When selecting the corn to be used in the ready-to-eatdinner, the producer will seek corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value from preservation module 300 that meets itsrequirements for nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Thepackager/shipper of preservation module 300 would also be able to chargea premium for corn which has high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values. And finally, the packager/shipper of preservationmodule 300 will select corn of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value from the grower of creation module 200, who will also beable to charge a premium for corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values.

Further, the consumer of the ready-to-eat dinner may want to, or in thecase of a restaurant, cafeteria, or other regulated eatingestablishment, may be required to, track the nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value of the corn during the local storage of theready-to-eat dinner. The local storage environments, local storagecontainers, and local storage coupons of the present invention enablesuch tracking by making information related to ΔN during local storageavailable to information module 100 for updating the dynamicnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values of a nutritionalsubstance.

The change to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value for anutritional substance, or ΔN, tracked through nutritional substancesupply system 10 through nutritional substance information frominformation module 100 can be preferably determined from measuredinformation. However, some or all such nutritional substance ΔNinformation may be derived through measurements of environmentalconditions of the nutritional substance as it travelled throughnutritional substance supply system 10. Additionally, some or all of thenutritional substance ΔN information can be derived from ΔN data ofother nutritional substances which have travelled through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10. Nutritional substance ΔN information canalso be derived from laboratory experiments performed on othernutritional substances, which may approximate conditions and/orprocesses to which the actual nutritional substance has been exposed.

For example, laboratory experiments can be performed on bananas todetermine effect on or change in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value, or ΔN, for a variety of environmental conditionsbananas may be exposed to during packaging and shipment in preservationmodule 300. Using this experimental data, tables and/or algorithms couldbe developed which would predict the level of change of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, for a particular bananabased upon information collected regarding the environmental conditionsto which the banana was exposed during its time in preservation module300. While the ultimate goal for nutritional substance supply system 10would be the actual measurement of nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values to determine ΔN, use of derived nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values from experimental data todetermine ΔN would allow improved logistics planning because it providesthe ability to prospectively estimate changes to nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, and because it allows moreaccurate tracking of changes to nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or ΔN, while technology and systems are put in placeto allow actual measurement.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,preservation information, packaging information, shipping information,and possibly previous transformation information. After nutritionalsubstance 420 has been transformed by transformer 410, such informationis passed along with the transformed nutritional substance 420 by theinformation transmission module 430.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has information associated with it, including the corn variety, where itwas planted, when it was planted, when it was picked, the soil it wasgrown in, the water used for irrigation, and the fertilizers andpesticides that were used during its growth. There may also beinformation on nutritional and/or organoleptic and/or aesthetic valuesof the corn when it was preserved for shipment. This information may bestored in the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored in adatabase maintained by the grower, shipper, or the nutritionalsubstances industry, also referred to herein as a dynamic nutritionalvalue database. Such information could be accessed by means oftelecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunication systems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a database maintainedby the grower, shipper, or the nutritional substances industry, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database. Suchinformation could be accessed by means of telecommunications systems,such as wireless telecommunication systems.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. Finally,transformer 410 packages the cooked corn in a can and labels the can.The label on the can may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic encode or tag, herein referred to as a dynamicinformation identifier, which identifies the information regarding thecorn in the can that is being transmitted by information transmissionmodule 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would receive theinformation regarding the nutritional substance 420 from a database thatis being used to track the corn during its journey from the farm to theconsumer. When transformer 410 transforms nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 retrieves the appropriateinformation from the database and transmits it to another database.Alternatively, the information retrieved by transmission module 430would be transmitted back to the original database, noting that thetransformation had occurred. Preferably, the information regarding thecorn retrieved by transmission module 430 would simply be appended withthe information that the transformation had occurred. Such databases areindividually and collectively referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value database.

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or dynamic information identifier that accompaniedthe nutritional substance from the creator, then new referenceinformation or a new dynamic information identifier may be created. Forexample, if the corn is combined with lima beans in the transformer 410,to make succotash, then the information for each may be combined andassigned a new reference number or a new dynamic information identifier.Preferably, a new entry is created in the dynamic nutritional valuedatabase, with references to the information related to the corn and theinformation related to the lima beans.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,packaging information, shipping information, and possibly previoustransformation information. After nutritional substance 420 has beentransformed by transformer 410, such information is passed along withthe transformed nutritional substance 420 by the informationtransmission module 430, along with specific information relating to thetransformation done by transformer 410.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has information associated with it, including the corn variety, where itwas planted, when it was planted, when it was picked, the soil it wasgrown in, the water used for irrigation, and the fertilizers andpesticides that were used during its growth. There may also beinformation on nutritional, organoleptic and aesthetic values of thecorn when it was preserved for shipment. This information may be storedin the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored in a dynamicnutritional value database maintained by the grower, shipper, or thenutritional substances industry. Such information could be accessed bytelecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunication systems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a dynamic nutritionalvalue database maintained by the grower, shipper, or the nutritionalsubstances industry. Such information could be accessed by means oftelecommunications systems, such as wireless telecommunication systems.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. Finally,transformer 410 packages the cooked corn in a can and labels the can.

During this transformation of the nutritional substance 420 bytransformer 410, information about the transformation can be captured bytransformer 410 and sent to information transmission module 430. Thisinformation can include how the transformation was accomplished;including information on the transformer used, the recipe implemented bytransformer 410, and the settings for transformer 410 when thetransformation occurred. Additionally, any information created duringthe transformation by transformer 410 can be sent to the informationtransmission module 430. This could include measured information, suchas the actual cooking temperature, length of time of each of the steps,or weight or volume measurements. Additionally, this information couldinclude measured aesthetic, organoleptic and nutritional values.

The label on the can may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic information identifier which identifies theinformation regarding the corn in the can that is being transmitted byinformation transmission module 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would receive theinformation regarding the nutritional substance 420 from a database thatis being used to track the corn during its journey from the farm to theconsumer. When transformer 410 transforms nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 retrieves the appropriateinformation from the database, appends it with the information fromtransformer 410 regarding the transformation, and transmits it toanother database. Alternatively, such information would be transmittedback to the original database, including the transformation information.Preferably, the information regarding the corn would simply be appendedwith the information from transformer 410 about the transformation. Suchdatabases are individually and collectively referred to herein as adynamic nutritional value database

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or a dynamic information identifier thataccompanied the nutritional substance from the creator, then newreference information or a new dynamic information identifier may becreated. For example, if the corn is combined with lima beans in thetransformer 410, to make succotash, then the information for each may becombined and assigned a new reference number or a new dynamicinformation identifier. Preferably, a new entry is created in thedynamic nutritional value database, with references to the informationrelated to the corn and the information related to the lima beans.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of transformation module 400 of the presentinvention. Transformation module 400 includes transformer 410, whichacts upon nutritional substance 420, and information transmission module430. When transformer 410 receives a nutritional substance 420,information transmission module 430 also receives, or retrievesinformation about the particular nutritional substance 420 that is to betransformed. This information can include creation information,packaging information, shipping information, and possibly previoustransformation information. This information is used by transformer 410to dynamically modify the transformation, the process referred to hereinas adaptive transformation. After nutritional substance 420 has beentransformed by transformer 410, such information is passed along withthe transformed nutritional substance 420 by the informationtransmission module 430, along with specific information relating to theadaptive transformation done by transformer 410.

For example, sweet corn that arrives for processing by transformer 410has origination information associated with it, including the cornvariety, where it was planted, when it was planted, when it was picked,the soil it was grown in, the water used for irrigation, and thefertilizers and pesticides that were used during its growth. There mayalso be source information on nutritional, organoleptic and aestheticvalues of the corn when it was preserved for shipment. This informationmay be stored in the labeling of the corn. However, it may be stored ina dynamic nutritional value database maintained by the grower, shipper,or the nutritional substances industry. Such information could beaccessed by telecommunications systems, such as wirelesstelecommunication systems.

Additionally, the corn may have information associated with it regardinghow it was preserved for shipment from the farm to transformation module400. Such information may include historical information on theenvironment exterior the container it was shipped in, internalconditions of the container and actual information about the corn duringthe shipment. Additionally, if the preservation system acted upon suchinformation in preserving the corn, information about the preservationmeasures may also be available. Such information may be stored in thepreservation system. However, it may be stored in a database maintainedby the grower, shipper, or the nutritional substances industry, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database. Suchinformation could be accessed by means of telecommunications systems,such as wireless telecommunication systems.

Any, or all, of this information can be provided to transformer 410 byinformation transmission module 430. Transformer 410 can dynamicallymodify its transformation of nutritional substance 420 in response tosuch information to adaptively transform the nutritional substance inorder to preserver or improve or minimize the degradation of thenutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstance 420.

In the example where the nutritional substance 420 is corn, transformer410 removes the husk and the silk from the corn. It then separates thekernels from the cob, washes the kernels, and cooks them. In response tothe information provided by information transmission module 430,transformer can dynamically modify the cooking temperature and time. Forexample, if transformer 410 receives information that indicates that thecorn is low in certain desirable nutrients, it might lower the cookingtemperature and time to preserve those nutrients, thus achieving a moredesirable nutritional value related to those specific nutrients in thetransformed nutritional substance. However, if transformer 410 receivesinformation that indicates that the corn is high in tough starches, itmight raise the cooking temperature and time to soften the corn, thusachieving a more desirable organoleptic value related to the texture ofthe transformed nutritional substance. Finally, transformer 410 packagesthe cooked corn in a can and labels the can.

Additionally, transformer 410 can modify its transformation of thenutritional substance in response to measured attributes of theparticular nutritional substance 420 being transformed. For example,transformer 410 can measure the color of the corn to be processed, andin response make adjustment to the transformation to preserve or enhancethe color of the transformed corn, thus achieving a more desirableaesthetic value related to the appearance of the transformed nutritionalsubstance.

During this adaptive transformation of the nutritional substance 420 bytransformer 410, information about the transformation can be captured bytransformer 410 and sent to information transmission module 430. Thisinformation can include how the transformation was accomplished;including information on any dynamic transformation modifications inresponse to information about the particular nutritional substance to betransformed, the recipe implemented by transformer 410, and the settingsfor transformer 410 when the transformation occurred. Additionally, anyinformation created during the transformation by transformer 410 can besent to the information transmission module 430. This could includemeasured information, such as the actual cooking temperature, length oftime of each of the steps. Additionally, this information could includemeasured organoleptic, aesthetic, and nutritional information, weight,and physical dimension.

The label on the packaging may contain all the information provided toinformation transmission module 430. Preferably, this information isreferenced by a dynamic information identifier which identifies theinformation regarding the nutritional substance in the packaging that isbeing transmitted by information transmission module 430.

In practice, information transmission module 430 would utilize a dynamicinformation identifier provided with the nutritional substance toretrieve and receive the information regarding the nutritional substance420 from a database that is being used to track the corn during itsjourney from the farm to the consumer. When transformer 410 transformsnutritional substance 420, information transmission module 430 retrievesthe appropriate information from the database, appends it with theinformation from transformer 410 regarding the transformation, andtransmits it to another database. Alternatively, such information wouldbe transmitted back to the original database, including thetransformation information. Preferably, the information regarding thecorn would simply be appended with the information from transformer 410about the transformation. Such databases are individually andcollectively referred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database.

If the nutritional substance 420 can no longer be tracked by thereference information or dynamic information identifier that accompaniedthe nutritional substance from the creator, then new referenceinformation or a new dynamic information identifier may be created. Forexample, if the corn is combined with lima beans in the transformer 410,to make succotash, then the information for each may be combined andassigned a new reference number or a new dynamic information identifier.Preferably, a new entry is created in the dynamic nutritional valuedatabase, with references to the information related to the corn and theinformation related to the lima beans.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of conditioner module 500 of the presentinvention. Conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 forconditioning before it is delivered to consumer 540. Controller 530 isoperably connected to conditioner system 510. In fact, controller 530may be integrated within conditioner system 510, or provided as aseparate device, shown in FIG. 3.

In an embodiment of the present invention, conditioner 570 is providedwithout controller 530, however it is provided in a format to becompatible with controller 530. Such a conditioner is also referred toherein as an information capable conditioner. In contrast, traditionalconditioners, also referred to herein as dumb conditioners, are notinformation capable, are not compatible with controller 530, andaccordingly will always be dumb conditioners. As information enablednutritional substances and conditioning systems according to the presentinvention are increasingly available, dumb conditioners will becomeincreasingly obsolete.

Information capable conditioners may be provided in a variety ofconfigurations known to those skilled in the art, and the examplesoffered herein are for purposed of illustration and not intended to belimiting in any way. In one example of an information capableconditioner, it is provided with traditional functionality, that is, itwill interact with nutritional substances in a traditional fashion,whether the nutritional substance is information enabled or not.However, the information capable conditioner is compatible withseparately available controller 530, such that at any time during orafter the manufacture and sale of the information capable conditioner,controller 530 may be coupled with the information capable conditionerto enable the full functionality and benefit of conditioner module 500.Information capable conditioners provide appliance manufacturers andconsumers great flexibility, and will not become obsolete like dumbconditioners.

The coupling of controller 530 to the information capable conditionermay take any physical and/or communication format known to those skilledin the art. These may include, but are not limited to: an informationcapable conditioner provided with Bluetooth, or other wirelessnear-field communication capability, to communicate with acommunication-compatible controller 530 which may be any of a completelyseparate unit, an externally attachable unit, and an internally placedunit; an information capable conditioner provided with a USB port, orother electronic communication capability, to communicate with acommunication-compatible controller 530 which may be any of a completelyseparate unit, an externally attachable unit, and an internally placedunit; an information capable conditioner provided with a fiber opticport, or other optical communication capability, to communicate with acommunication-compatible controller 530 which may be any of a completelyseparate unit, an externally attachable unit, and an internally placedunit; or an information capable conditioner provided with WiFi, or otherwireless communication capability, to communicate with a WiFi compatiblecontroller 530 which may be any of a completely separate unit, anexternally attachable unit, and an internally placed unit. It isunderstood that the controller 530 may be provided with its own consumerinterface, may communicate and be operated through the consumerinterface provided with the information capable conditioner, or acombination of both.

When conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 forconditioning, nutritional substance reader 590 either receivesinformation regarding nutritional substance 520 and provides it tocontroller 530, which is the case if the nutritional substance 520contains a label which includes the information about nutritionalsubstance 520, and/or the nutritional substance reader 590 receivesreference information allowing retrieval of the information and providesit to controller 530, which is the case if the nutritional substance 520is associated with, or provided with a dynamic information identifier.In the case where nutritional substance 520 contains a label whichincludes the desired information about nutritional substance 520,nutritional substance reader 590 reads this information, provides it tocontroller 530, which makes it available to consumer 540 by means ofconsumer interface 560.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a ready-to-eat frozendinner which needs to be heated by conditioner system 510, nutritionalsubstance reader 590 would read a label on nutritional substance 520,thereby receiving the information regarding nutritional substance 520,and then provide the information to controller 530. This informationcould include creation information as to the creation of the variouscomponents which constitute the ready-to-eat dinner. This informationcould include information about where and how the corn in theready-to-eat dinner was grown, including the corn seed used, where itwas planted, how it was planted, how it was irrigated, when it waspicked, and information on fertilizers and pesticides used during itsgrowth. Additionally, this information could include the cattle lineage,health, immunization, dietary supplements that were fed to the cattlethat was slaughtered to obtain the beef in the ready-to-eat dinner.

The information from a label on nutritional substance 520 could alsoinclude information on how the components were preserved for shipmentfrom the farm or slaughterhouse on their path to the nutritionalsubstance transformer who prepared the ready-to-eat dinner. Additionalinformation could include how the nutritional substance transformertransformed the components into the ready-to-eat dinner, such as recipeused, additives to the dinner, and actual measured conditions during thetransformation into the ready-to-eat dinner.

While such information could be stored on a label located on thepackaging for nutritional substance 520 so as to be read by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, provided to controller 530, and provided toconsumer interface 560 for display to consumer 540, preferably, thelabel on the nutritional substance package includes referenceinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier, which is read bynutritional substance reader 590 and provided to controller 530 thatallows controller 530 to retrieve the information about nutritionalsubstance 520 from nutritional substance database 550. Further, linkingconsumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measured changes inthe nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances would provide for virtually real time updates of ΔNinformation from the actual consumer.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a database maintained by thetransformer of nutritional substance 520 for access by consumers of suchnutritional substance 520 to track or estimate changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of those nutritionalsubstances, as well as any other information about the nutritionalsubstance that can be tracked, including but not limited to the examplespreviously described. However, preferably, nutritional substancedatabase 550 is a database maintained by the nutritional substanceindustry for all such information regarding nutritional substancesgrown, raised, preserved, transformed, conditioned and consumed byconsumer 540, in which case it is the database contained withininformation module 100 and also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value database.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-9 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, controller 530, inaddition to providing information regarding nutritional substance 520 toconsumer 540, also receives information from conditioner system 510 onhow nutritional substance 520 was conditioned. Additionally, conditionersystem 510 may also measure or sense information about nutritionalsubstance 520 during its conditioning by conditioner system 510, andprovide such information to controller 530, so that such informationcould also be provided to consumer 540, via consumer interface 560.Further, the controller 530 can receive information from the consumervia consumer interface 560 regarding observed or measured changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances before or after conditioning, to provide virtually real timeupdates of ΔN information from the actual consumer, for use by thecontroller and/or transmission to the nutritional substance database550.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, controller 530organizes and correlates the information it receives regardingnutritional substance 520 from the various sources of such information,including nutritional substance database 550 and conditioner system 510,and presents such information through consumer interface 560 to consumer540 in a manner useful to consumer 540. For example, such informationmay be provided in a manner that assists consumer 540 in understandinghow nutritional substance 520 meets consumer's 540 nutritional needs. Itcould organize information regarding nutritional substance 520 to trackconsumer's 540 weight loss program. Controller 530 could have access to,or maintain, information regarding consumer 540, so as to track andassist consumer 540 in meeting their specific nutritional needs.

In another embodiment of the present invention conditioner system 510could be a plurality of conditioner devices which can be selectivelyoperated by controller 530 to prepare nutritional substance 520.Conditioner system 510 can be either a single conditioning device, suchas a microwave oven, conventional oven, toaster, blender, steamer,stovetop, or human cook. Conditioner system 510 may be a plurality ofconditioners 570. In the case where a plurality of conditioners 570comprise conditioner system 510, nutritional substance 520 may bemanually or automatically transferred between conditioners 570 foreventual transfer to consumer 540.

Nutritional substance reader 590 may be an automatic reader such as abarcode reader or RFID sensor which receives information fromnutritional substance 520 or a reference code from nutritional substance520, such as a dynamic information identifier associated with, orprovided with the nutritional substance 520, and provides thisinformation to controller 530. Nutritional substance reader 590 mightalso be a manual entry system where the reference code, such as adynamic information identifier associated with, or provided with thenutritional substance 520, is manually entered into nutritionalsubstance reader 590 for use by controller 530, or may alternatively bemanually entered into consumer interface 560 for use by controller 530.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a flat database, relationaldatabase or, preferably, a multi-dimensional database. Nutritionalsubstance database 550 could be local but, preferably, it would belocated remotely, such as on the internet, and accessed via atelecommunication system, such as a wireless telecommunication system.Controller 530 can be implemented using a computing device, such as amicro-controller, micro-processor, personal computer, or tabletcomputer. Controller 530 could be integrated to include nutritionalsubstance reader 590, consumer interface 560, and/or nutritionalsubstance database 550. Additionally, controller 530 may be integratedin conditioner system 510, including integration into conditioner 570.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-8 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

Consumer interface 560 can be implemented as a display device mounted oncontroller 530, conditioner system 510, or conditioner 570. However,consumer interface 560 is preferably a tablet computer, personalcomputer, personal assistant, or smart phone, running appropriatesoftware, such as an app.

While conditioner module 500 can be located in the consumer's home,conditioner module 500 may be located at a restaurant or other foodservice establishment for use in preparing nutritional substances 520for consumers who patronize such an establishment. Additionally,conditioner module 500 could be located at a nutritional substanceseller such as a grocery store or health food store for preparation ofnutritional substances 520 purchased by consumers at such anestablishment. It could be foreseen that conditioner modules 500 couldbecome standalone businesses where consumers select nutritionalsubstances for preparation at the establishment or removal from theestablishment for consumption elsewhere.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of conditioning module 500 of the presentinvention. Conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 forconditioning before it is delivered to consumer 540. Controller 530 isoperably connected to conditioner system 510. In fact, controller 530may be integrated within conditioner system 510, although in FIG. 7, itis shown as a separate device. When conditioner system 510 receivesnutritional substance 520 for conditioning, nutritional substance reader590 either receives information regarding nutritional substance 520 andprovides it to controller 530, which is the case if the nutritionalsubstance 520 contains a label which includes the information aboutnutritional substance 520, and/or the nutritional substance reader 590receives reference information, such as a dynamic informationidentifier, and provides it to controller 530, allowing retrieval of theinformation about nutritional substance 520 from nutritional substancedatabase 550, which is the case when the nutritional substance isassociated with, or provided with, a dynamic information identifier. Inthe case where nutritional substance 520 contains a label which includesinformation about nutritional substance 520, nutritional substancereader 590 reads this information, provides it to controller 530 andmakes it available to consumer 540 by means of consumer interface 560.

In an embodiment of the present invention, conditioner system 510comprises conditioner 570. Conditioner 570 is a conditioning apparatuswhich can perform a number of operations on nutritional substance 520,separately and/or at the same time. For example, conditioner 570 couldbe a combination microwave oven, convection oven, grill, andconventional oven. Controller 530 could operate conditioner 570 toexecute a sequence of conditioning cycles on nutritional substance 520to complete its conditioning.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a whole frozen turkey to beprepared for dinner, consumer 540 would place the turkey in conditioner570, the combination cooking unit suggested above. Controller 530 wouldreceive and/or create a protocol of conditioning cycles. Such a protocolcould be read by nutritional substance reader 590 from a label onnutritional substance 520. Alternately, a protocol of conditioningcycles could be obtained from nutritional substance database 550 throughreference information, such as a dynamic information identifier,obtained by nutritional substance reader 590 from nutritional substance520. For example, a label on the turkey, could be read by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, providing reference information for the turkey,such as a dynamic information identifier, which controller 530 uses toobtain a conditioning protocol for the turkey from nutritional substancedatabase 550.

An example of such a conditioning protocol for a frozen turkey could beto operate conditioner 570, the combination cooking unit, in thefollowing fashion. First, controller 530 instructs conditioner 570 touse the microwave function of the combination cooking unit to defrostthe turkey according to the conditioning protocol obtained for theturkey from nutritional substance database 550 and possibly according toconditioner information provided by conditioner 570, such as the weightof the turkey and information regarding the defrosting process asmeasured by conditioner 570. Following defrosting of the turkey,controller 530 next instructs the combination cooking unit to operate asa convection oven to cook the turkey, according to the conditioningprotocol obtained for the turkey from nutritional substance database550, for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that the turkeyreaches the proper internal temperature to meet safety requirements, andto maximize organoleptic and/or nutritional properties. Alternatively,the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey from nutritionalsubstance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurement of theinternal temperature of the turkey, or a combination of measuredtemperature and time. Following the convection oven cooking of theturkey, controller 530 could instruct the combination cooking unit togrill the turkey, according to the conditioning protocol obtained forthe turkey from nutritional substance database 550, for a sufficientperiod of time to create a desirable golden and crispy skin.Alternatively, the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurementby an optical sensor of external aesthetic values of the turkey such ascolor, change of color, texture, or change of texture. Alternatively,the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey from nutritionalsubstance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurement by aninfrared sensor of the surface temperature of the turkey, or acombination time, measured aesthetic values, and/or measured surfacetemperature. Finally, controller 530 could instruct the combinationcooking unit to use all three cooking functions at the same time toprepare the turkey for optimal consumption according to the conditioningprotocol obtained for the turkey from nutritional substance database550.

Alternately, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a plurality ofconditioners 570. While an automated system for moving a nutritionalsubstance between such conditioners would be optimal, conditioner system510 could be operated manually by consumer 540 from instructionsprovided by the controller 530 to consumer interface 560. In thisembodiment, controller 530 could provide consumer 540 with instructionsas to where to move the turkey after each step in the conditioningprotocol. In this example, controller 530 instructs consumer 540 throughconsumer interface 560 to first place the frozen turkey in conditioner570, a microwave oven. Controller 530 instructs the microwave oven todefrost the turkey based on information possibly provided by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, nutritional substance database 550 and/orconditioner 570. Upon completion of defrosting by the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 to movethe defrosted turkey from the microwave oven to another conditioner 570,a convection oven. Controller 530 would operate the convection oven tocook the turkey for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that theturkey reaches the proper internal temperature to meet safetyrequirements, and to maximize organoleptic and/or nutritionalproperties. Finally, following the cooking cycle in the convection oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through consumer interface560 to move the turkey from the convection oven to another conditioner570, a grill. Controller 530 would operate the grill so as to grill theturkey for a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden andcrispy skin.

Alternately, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a plurality ofconditioners 570; and a consumer 540 (which would include anyindividuals preparing the turkey for consumption), fulfilling additionalconditioner rolls, as will be explained. While an automated system formoving a nutritional substance between such conditioners would beoptimal, conditioner system 510 could be operated manually by consumer540 from instructions provided by a consumer interface 560, which inthis case could be a handheld device such as a cellular phone, tabletcomputer, PDA, or any other device useful for communicating withnutritional substance database 550 and the consumer 540. The handhelddevice additionally fulfills the roll of nutritional substance reader590 and controller 530. For example, the consumer 540 can utilize acamera function of the handheld device to read a barcode, or QR code, onor associated with the turkey, wherein the code provides a dynamicinformation identifier. The handheld device can then use the dynamicinformation identifier to retrieve information regarding the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550. In this example, consumer 540utilizes the handheld device to read a barcode (or any other readablecode) on the turkey, the barcode containing a dynamic informationidentifier associated with information regarding the turkey within thenutritional substance database 550. The consumer 540 uses the handhelddevice to retrieve and review a conditioning protocol from nutritionalsubstance database 550, and is accordingly instructed as to where tomove the turkey for each step in the conditioning protocol and furtherinstructed on the conditioning parameters required for each step of theconditioning protocol. In this example, consumer 540 retrieves andreviews a conditioning protocol from nutritional substance database 550using the handheld device and is instructed to first place the frozenturkey in conditioner 570, a microwave oven, and further instructed onconditioning parameters for the microwave oven to defrost the turkeybased. Consumer 540 is instructed that upon completion of defrosting bythe microwave oven, the turkey is to be moved to another conditioner570, a convection oven. Consumer 540 is further instructed onconditioning parameters for the convection oven to cook the turkey for asufficient length of time so as to ensure that the turkey reaches theproper internal temperature to meet safety requirements, and to maximizeorganoleptic and/or nutritional properties. Finally, consumer 540 isinstructed that upon completion of cooking by the convection oven, theturkey is to be moved to another conditioner 570, a grill, and furtherinstructed on conditioning parameters for the grill so as to grill theturkey for a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden andcrispy skin.

In the case where conditioner system 510 is a plurality of conditioners570, it would also be possible for controller 530 to manage conditioners570 within conditioner system 510 so as to produce a complete meal. Forexample, controller 530 could select conditioning protocols which wouldmaximize the use of each conditioner 570. For example, in a mealcomprising a turkey, home baked bread, and acorn squash, controller 530could stage and operate the microwave oven, convection oven, and grillto minimize preparation time for the meal by determining which itemshould be cooked in which conditioner 570, in which order, to maximizeusage of each conditioner 570 in conditioning system 510. In thisexample, while the turkey is being defrosted in the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 toplace the bread dough in the convection oven and the acorn squash on thegrill. Following the defrosting of the turkey, when the turkey is movedto the convection oven, which finished baking the bread, the bread couldbe moved to the grill for browning, and the acorn squash could be movedto microwave oven to keep warm until the entire meal is ready.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a ready-to-eat frozendinner which needs to be heated by conditioner system 510, nutritionalsubstance reader 590 would read a label on nutritional substance 520,thereby receiving information regarding nutritional substance 520, andthen provide the information to controller 530. This information couldinclude creation information as to the creation of the variouscomponents which constitute the ready-to-eat dinner. This informationcould include information about where and how the corn in theready-to-eat dinner was grown, including the corn seed used, where itwas planted, how it was planted, how it was irrigated, when it waspicked, and information on fertilizers and pesticides used during itsgrowth. Additionally, this information could include the cattle lineage,health, immunization, dietary supplements that were fed to the cattlethat was slaughtered to obtain the beef in the ready-to-eat dinner.

The information from a label on nutritional substance 520 could alsoinclude information on how the components were preserved for shipmentfrom the farm or slaughterhouse on their path to the nutritionalsubstance transformer who prepared the ready-to-eat dinner. Additionalinformation could include how the nutritional substance transformertransformed the components into the ready-to-eat dinner, such as recipeused, additives to the dinner, and actual measured conditions during thetransformation into the ready-to-eat dinner.

While such information could be stored on a label located on thepackaging for nutritional substance 520 so as to be read by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, provided to controller 530, and provided toconsumer interface 560 for display to consumer 540, preferably, thelabel on the nutritional substance package includes referenceinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier, which is read bynutritional substance reader 590 and provided to controller 530 thatallows controller 530 to retrieve the information about nutritionalsubstance 520 from nutritional substance database 550. Further, linkingconsumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measured changes inthe nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances would provide for virtually real time updates of ΔNinformation from the actual consumer.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a database maintained by thetransformer of nutritional substance 520 for access by consumers of suchnutritional substance 520 to track or estimate changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of those nutritionalsubstances, as well as any other information about the nutritionalsubstance that can be tracked, including but not limited to the examplespreviously described. However, preferably, nutritional substancedatabase 550 is a database within information module 100 that ismaintained by the nutritional substance industry for all suchinformation regarding nutritional substances grown, raised, preserved,transformed, conditioned and consumed by consumer 540, in which case itis the database contained within information module 100 and alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, controller 530, inaddition to providing information regarding nutritional substance 520 toconsumer 540, also receives information from conditioner system 510 onhow nutritional substance 520 was conditioned. Additionally, conditionersystem 510 may also measure or sense information about nutritionalsubstance 520 during its conditioning by conditioner system 510, andprovide such information to controller 530, so that such informationcould also be provided to consumer 540, via consumer interface 560.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, controller 530organizes and correlates the information it receives regardingnutritional substance 520 from the various sources of such information,including nutritional substance database 550 and conditioner system 510,and presents such information through consumer interface 560 to consumer540 in a manner useful to consumer 540. For example, such informationmay be provided in a manner that assists consumer 540 in understandinghow nutritional substance 520 meets consumer's 540 nutritional needsbefore or after conditioning, or how it meets the consumer's needs basedon various proposed conditioning parameters. It could organizeinformation regarding nutritional substance 520 to track consumer's 540weight loss program. Controller 530 could have access to, or maintain,information regarding consumer 540, so as to track and assist consumer540 in meeting their specific nutritional needs.

In another embodiment of the present invention conditioner system 510could be a plurality of conditioner devices which can be selectivelyoperated by controller 530 to prepare nutritional substance 520.Conditioner system 510 can be either a single conditioning device, suchas a microwave oven, conventional oven, toaster, blender, steamer,stovetop, or human cook. Conditioner system 510 may be a plurality ofconditioners 570. In the case where a plurality of conditioners 570comprise conditioner system 510, nutritional substance 520 may bemanually or automatically transferred between conditioners 570 foreventual transfer to consumer 540.

Nutritional substance reader 590 may be an automatic reader such as abarcode reader or RFID sensor which receives information fromnutritional substance 520 or a reference code from nutritional substance520, such as a dynamic information identifier, and provides thisinformation to controller 530. Nutritional substance reader 590 mightalso be a manual entry system where the reference code, such as adynamic information identifier associated with, or provided with thenutritional substance 520 is manually entered into nutritional substancereader 590 for controller 530.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a flat database, relationaldatabase or, preferably, a multi-dimensional database. Nutritionalsubstance database 550 could be local but, preferably, it would belocated remotely, such as on the internet, and accessed via atelecommunication system, such as a wireless telecommunication system.Controller 530 can be implemented using a computing device, such as amicro-controller, micro-processor, personal computer, or tabletcomputer. Controller 530 could be integrated to include nutritionalsubstance reader 590, consumer interface 560, and/or nutritionalsubstance database 550. Additionally, controller 530 may be integratedin conditioner system 510, including integration into conditioner 570.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-9 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

Consumer interface 560 can be implemented as a display device mounted oncontroller 530, conditioner system 510, or conditioner 570. However,consumer interface 560 is preferably a tablet computer, personalcomputer, personal assistant, or smart phone, running appropriatesoftware, such as an app.

While conditioner module 500 can be located in the consumer's home,conditioner module 500 may be located at a restaurant or other foodservice establishment for use in preparing nutritional substances 520for consumers who patronize such an establishment. Additionally,conditioner module 500 could be located at a nutritional substanceseller such as a grocery store or health food store for preparation ofnutritional substances 520 purchased by consumers at such anestablishment. It could be foreseen that conditioner modules 500 couldbecome standalone businesses where consumers select nutritionalsubstances for preparation at the establishment or removal from theestablishment for consumption elsewhere.

Additionally, controller 530 uses nutritional substance informationretrieved by nutritional substance reader 590 from nutritional substance520, or retrieved from nutritional substance database 550 usingreference information obtained by nutritional substance reader 590 fromnutritional substance 520, to dynamically modify the operation ofconditioner system 510 to maintain organoleptic and nutritionalproperties of nutritional substance 520. For example, if the nutritionalsubstance 520 is a ready-to-eat dinner, controller 530 could modify theinstructions to conditioner system 530 in response to informationregarding the corn used in the ready-to-eat dinner such that atemperature and cooking duration can be modified to affect theorganoleptic, nutritional, taste, and/or appearance of the corn.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the label on nutritionalsubstance 520 could contain the conditioning instructions fornutritional substance 520, or a reference, such as a dynamic informationidentifier, to such conditioning instructions in nutritional substancedatabase 550. In operation, this would allow controller 530 to obtaininformation about nutritional substance 520 on how to dynamicallyoperate conditioner system 510 to condition nutritional substance 520,without consumer intervention. Additionally, conditioning instructionsfor nutritional substance 520 could be provided for a variety ofdifferent conditioner systems 510, or conditioners 570, and controllercould select the proper conditioning instructions.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, nutritional substancereader 590 and/or conditioner system 510 measures or senses informationabout the current state of nutritional substance 520 and provides suchinformation to controller 530 to allow controller 530 to dynamicallymodify operation of conditioner system 510.

In an additional embodiment of the present invention, consumer 540provides information regarding their needs and/or desires with regard tothe nutritional substance 520 to consumer interface 560. Consumerinterface 560 provides this information to controller 530 so as to allowcontroller 530 to dynamically modify conditioning parameters used byconditioner system 510 in the conditioning of nutritional substance 520,or to request from nutritional substance database 550 dynamicallymodified conditioning parameters to be used by conditioner system 510 inthe conditioning of nutritional substance 520. Consumer's 540 needsand/or desires could include nutritional parameters, taste parameters,aesthetic parameters. For example, consumer 540 may have needs forcertain nutrients which are present in nutritional substance 520 priorto conditioning. Controller 530 could modify operation of conditionersystem 510 so as to preserve such nutrients. For example, conditionersystem 500 can cook the nutritional substance at a lower temperatureand/or for a shorter duration so as to minimize nutrient loss. Theconsumer's 540 needs and/or desires may be related to particularnutritional, organoleptic, an/or aesthetic values, and may additionallybe related to other nutritional substance attributes that areretrievable through the nutritional substance database 550 using adynamic information identifier, such as nutritional substance additives,preservatives, genetic modifications, origins, and traceability.Further, the consumer's needs and/or desires could be part of a consumerprofile provided to the controller 530 through the consumer interface560 or otherwise available to controller 530. The consumer's needsand/or desires could be exclusionary in nature, for example no productsof animal origin, no peanuts or peanut-derived products, no farm raisedproducts, no pork products, or no imported products. In these cases, thenutritional substance database 550 could provide information that wouldprevent the consumer from preparing and/or consuming products that theconsumer cannot, should not, or prefers not to consume.

The consumer's 540 organoleptic and/or aesthetic desires could includehow rare or well done they prefer a particular nutritional substance tobe prepared. For example, consumer 540 may prefer his vegetables to becrisp or pasta to be prepared al dente. With such information providedby consumer 540 to controller 530 through consumer interface 560,controller 530 can dynamically modify operation of conditioner system510 responsive to the consumer information and provide a nutritionalsubstance according to the consumer's desires.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, controller 530receives information regarding the history of nutritional substance 520,current information on nutritional substance 520, and consumer 540 needsand/or desires, and dynamically modifies operation of conditioner system510 responsive to the information so as to provide a nutritionalsubstance according to the consumer's needs and/or desires. For example,if nutritional substance 520 is a steak, controller 530 would receivereference information regarding the steak, nutritional substance 520,from nutritional substance reader 590. Controller 530 would use thisreference information to obtain information about the steak fromnutritional substance database 550. Controller 530 could also receivecurrent information about the steak from nutritional substance reader590 and/or conditioner 510. Additionally, controller 530 could receiveconsumer 540 preferences from consumer interface 560. Finally,controller 530 could receive information from conditioner system 510during the conditioning of the steak, nutritional substance 520. Usingsome or all of such information, controller 530 would dynamically modifythe cooking of the steak to preserve, optimize, or enhance organoleptic,nutritional, and aesthetic properties to meet consumer 540 needs. Forexample, the steak could be cooked slowly to preserve iron levels withinthe meat, and also cooked to well-done to meet consumer's 540 taste.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of conditioning module 500 of the presentinvention. Conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 forconditioning before it is delivered to consumer 540. Controller 530 isoperably connected to conditioner system 510. In fact, controller 530may be integrated within conditioner system 510, although in FIG. 5, itis shown as a separate device. When conditioner system 510 receivesnutritional substance 520 for conditioning, nutritional substance reader590 either receives information regarding nutritional substance 520 andprovides it to controller 530, which is the case if the nutritionalsubstance 520 contains a label which includes the information aboutnutritional substance 520, and/or the nutritional substance reader 590receives reference information, such as a dynamic informationidentifier, and provides it to controller 530, allowing retrieval of theinformation about nutritional substance 520 from nutritional substancedatabase 550, which is the case when the nutritional substance isassociated with, or provided with, a dynamic information identifier. Inthe case where nutritional substance 520 contains a label which includesinformation about nutritional substance 520, nutritional substancereader 590 reads this information, provides it to controller 530 andmakes it available to consumer 540 by means of consumer interface 560.

In an embodiment of the present invention, conditioner system 510comprises conditioner 570. Conditioner 570 is a conditioning apparatuswhich can perform a number of operations on nutritional substance 520,separately and/or at the same time. For example, conditioner 570 couldbe a combination microwave oven, convection oven, grill, andconventional oven. Controller 530 could operate conditioner 570 toexecute a sequence of conditioning cycles on nutritional substance 520to complete its conditioning.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a whole frozen turkey to beprepared for dinner, consumer 540 would place the turkey in conditioner570, the combination cooking unit suggested above. Controller 530 wouldreceive and/or create a protocol of conditioning cycles. Such a protocolcould be read by nutritional substance reader 590 from a label onnutritional substance 520. Alternately, a protocol of conditioningcycles could be obtained from nutritional substance database 550 throughreference information such as a dynamic information identifier, obtainedby nutritional substance reader 590 from nutritional substance 520. Forexample, a label on the turkey could be read by nutritional substancereader 590, providing reference information for the turkey, such as adynamic information identifier, which controller 530 uses to obtain aconditioning protocol for the turkey from nutritional substance database550.

An example of such a conditioning protocol for a frozen turkey could beto operate conditioner 570, the combination cooking unit in thefollowing fashion. First, controller 530 instructs conditioner 570 touse the microwave function of the combination cooking unit to defrostthe turkey according to the conditioning protocol obtained for theturkey from nutritional substance database 550 and possibly according toconditioner information provided by conditioner 570, such as the weightof the turkey and information regarding the defrosting process asmeasured by conditioner 570. Following defrosting of the turkey,controller 530 next instructs the combination cooking unit to operate asa convection oven to cook the turkey, according to the conditioningprotocol obtained for the turkey from nutritional substance database550, for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that the turkeyreaches the proper internal temperature to meet safety requirements, andto maximize organoleptic and/or nutritional properties. Alternatively,the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey from nutritionalsubstance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurement of theinternal temperature of the turkey, or a combination of measuredtemperature and time. Following the convection oven cooking of theturkey, controller 530 could instruct the combination cooking unit togrill the turkey, according to the conditioning protocol obtained forthe turkey from nutritional substance database 550, for a sufficientperiod of time to create a desirable golden and crispy skin.Alternatively, the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurementby an optical sensor of external aesthetic values of the turkey such ascolor, change of color, texture, or change of texture. Alternatively,the conditioning protocol obtained for the turkey from nutritionalsubstance database 550 may depend upon a direct measurement by aninfrared sensor of the surface temperature of the turkey, or acombination time, measured aesthetic values, and/or measured surfacetemperature. Finally, controller 530 could instruct the combinationcooking unit to use all three cooking functions at the same time toprepare the turkey for optimal consumption according to the conditioningprotocol obtained for the turkey from nutritional substance database550.

Alternately, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a plurality ofconditioners 570. While an automated system for moving a nutritionalsubstance between such conditioners would be optimal, conditioner system510 could be operated manually by consumer 540 from instructionsprovided by the controller 530 to consumer interface 560. In thisembodiment, controller 530 could provide consumer 540 with instructionsas to where to move the turkey after each step in the conditioningprotocol. In this example, controller 530 instructs consumer 540 throughconsumer interface 560 to first place the frozen turkey in conditioner570, a microwave oven. Controller 530 instructs the microwave oven todefrost the turkey based on information possibly provided by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, nutritional substance database 550 and/orconditioner 570. Upon completion of defrosting by the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 to movethe defrosted turkey from the microwave oven to another conditioner 570,a convection oven. Controller 530 would operate the convection oven tocook the turkey for a sufficient length of time so as to ensure that theturkey reaches the proper internal temperature to meet safetyrequirements, and to maximize organoleptic and/or nutritionalproperties. Finally, following the cooking cycle in the convection oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through consumer interface560 to move the turkey from the convection oven to another conditioner570, a grill. Controller 530 would operate the grill so as to grill theturkey for a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden andcrispy skin.

Alternately, conditioner system 510 could be composed of a plurality ofconditioners 570; and a consumer 540 (which would include anyindividuals preparing the turkey for consumption), fulfilling additionalconditioner rolls, as will be explained. While an automated system formoving a nutritional substance between such conditioners would beoptimal, conditioner system 510 could be operated manually by consumer540 from instructions provided by a consumer interface 560, which inthis case could be a handheld device such as a cellular phone, tabletcomputer, PDA, or any other device useful for communicating withnutritional substance database 550 and the consumer 540. The handhelddevice additionally fulfills the roll of nutritional substance reader590 and controller 530. For example, the consumer 540 can utilize acamera function of the handheld device to read a barcode, or QR code, onor associated with the turkey, wherein the code provides a dynamicinformation identifier. The handheld device can then use the dynamicinformation identifier to retrieve information regarding the turkey fromnutritional substance database 550. In this example, consumer 540utilizes the handheld device to read a barcode (or any other readablecode) on the turkey, the barcode containing a dynamic informationidentifier associated with information regarding the turkey within thenutritional substance database 550. The consumer 540 uses the handhelddevice to retrieve and review a conditioning protocol from nutritionalsubstance database 550, and is accordingly instructed as to where tomove the turkey for each step in the conditioning protocol and furtherinstructed on the conditioning parameters required for each step of theconditioning protocol. In this example, consumer 540 retrieves andreviews a conditioning protocol from nutritional substance database 550using the handheld device and is instructed to first place the frozenturkey in conditioner 570, a microwave oven, and further instructed onconditioning parameters for the microwave oven to defrost the turkeybased. Consumer 540 is instructed that upon completion of defrosting bythe microwave oven, the turkey is to be moved to another conditioner570, a convection oven. Consumer 540 is further instructed onconditioning parameters for the convection oven to cook the turkey for asufficient length of time so as to ensure that the turkey reaches theproper internal temperature to meet safety requirements, and to maximizeorganoleptic and/or nutritional properties. Finally, consumer 540 isinstructed that upon completion of cooking by the convection oven, theturkey is to be moved to another conditioner 570, a grill, and furtherinstructed on conditioning parameters for the grill so as to grill theturkey for a sufficient period of time to create a desirable golden andcrispy skin.

In the case where conditioner system 510 is a plurality of conditioners570, it would also be possible for controller 530 to manage conditioners570 within conditioner system 510 so as to produce a complete meal. Forexample, controller 530 could select conditioning protocols which wouldmaximize the use of each conditioner 570. For example, in a mealcomprising a turkey, home baked bread, and acorn squash, controller 530could stage and operate the microwave oven, convection oven, and grillto minimize preparation time for the meal by determining which itemshould be cooked in which conditioner 570, in which order, to maximizeusage of each conditioner 570 in conditioning system 510. In thisexample, while the turkey is being defrosted in the microwave oven,controller 530 could instruct consumer 540 through interface 560 toplace the bread dough in the convection oven and the acorn squash on thegrill. Following the defrosting of the turkey, when the turkey is movedto the convection oven, which finished baking the bread, the bread couldbe moved to the grill for browning, and the acorn squash could be movedto microwave oven to keep warm., until the entire meal is ready.

For example, if nutritional substance 520 is a ready-to-eat frozendinner which needs to be heated by conditioner system 510, nutritionalsubstance reader 590 would read a label on nutritional substance 520thereby receiving information regarding nutritional substance 520, andthen provide the information to controller 530. This information couldinclude creation information as to the creation of the variouscomponents which constitute the ready-to-eat dinner. This informationcould include information about where and how the corn in theready-to-eat dinner was grown, including the corn seed used, where itwas planted, how it was planted, how it was irrigated, when it waspicked, and information on fertilizers and pesticides used during itsgrowth. Additionally, this information could include the cattle lineage,health, immunization, dietary supplements that were fed to the cattlethat was slaughtered to obtain the beef in the ready-to-eat dinner.

The information from a label on nutritional substance 520 could alsoinclude information on how the components were preserved for shipmentfrom the farm or slaughterhouse on their path to the nutritionalsubstance transformer who prepared the ready-to-eat dinner. Additionalinformation could include how the nutritional substance transformertransformed the components into the ready-to-eat dinner, such as recipeused, additives to the dinner, and actual measured conditions during thetransformation into the ready-to-eat dinner.

While such information could be stored on a label located on thepackaging for nutritional substance 520 so as to be read by nutritionalsubstance reader 590, provided to controller 530, and provided toconsumer interface 560 for display to consumer 540, preferably, thelabel on the nutritional substance package includes referenceinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier, which is read bynutritional substance reader 590 and provided to controller 530 thatallows controller 530 to retrieve the information about nutritionalsubstance 520 from nutritional substance database 550. Further, linkingconsumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measured changes inthe nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances would provide for virtually real time updates of ΔNinformation from the actual consumer.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a database maintained by thetransformer of nutritional substance 520 for access by consumers of suchnutritional substance 520 to track or estimate changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of those nutritionalsubstances, as well as any other information about the nutritionalsubstance that can be tracked, including but not limited to the examplespreviously described. However, preferably, nutritional substancedatabase 550 is a database within information module 100 that ismaintained by the nutritional substance industry for all suchinformation regarding nutritional substances grown, raised, preserved,transformed, conditioned and consumed by consumer 540, in which case itis the database contained within information module 100 and alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, controller 530, inaddition to providing information regarding nutritional substance 520 toconsumer 540, also receives information from conditioner system 510 onhow nutritional substance 520 was conditioned. Additionally, conditionersystem 510 may also measure or sense information about nutritionalsubstance 520 during its conditioning by conditioner system 510, andprovide such information to controller 530, so that such informationcould also be provided to consumer 540, via consumer interface 560.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, controller 530organizes and correlates the information it receives regardingnutritional substance 520 from the various sources of such information,including nutritional substance database 550 and conditioner system 510,and presents such information through consumer interface 560 to consumer540 in a manner useful to consumer 540. For example, such informationmay be provided in a manner that assists consumer 540 in understandinghow nutritional substance 520 meets consumer's 540 nutritional needsbefore or after conditioning, or how it meets the consumer's needs basedon various proposed conditioning parameters. It could organizeinformation regarding nutritional substance 520 to track consumer's 540weight loss program. Controller 530 could have access to, or maintain,information regarding consumer 540, so as to track and assist consumer540 in meeting their specific nutritional needs.

In another embodiment of the present invention conditioner system 510could be a plurality of conditioner devices which can be selectivelyoperated by controller 530 to prepare nutritional substance 520.Conditioner system 510 can be either a single conditioning device, suchas a microwave oven, conventional oven, toaster, blender, steamer,stovetop, or human cook. Conditioner system 510 may be a plurality ofconditioners 570. In the case where a plurality of conditioners 570comprise conditioner system 510, nutritional substance 520 may bemanually or automatically transferred between conditioners 570 foreventual transfer to consumer 540.

Nutritional substance reader 590 may be an automatic reader such as abarcode reader or RFID sensor which receives information fromnutritional substance 520 or a reference code from nutritional substance520, such as a dynamic information identifier, and provides thisinformation to controller 530. Nutritional substance reader 590 mightalso be a manual entry system where the reference code, such as adynamic information identifier associated with, or provided with thenutritional substance 520 is manually entered into nutritional substancereader 590 for controller 530.

Nutritional substance database 550 could be a flat database, relationaldatabase or, preferably, a multi-dimensional database. Nutritionalsubstance database 550 could be local but, preferably, it would belocated remotely, such as on the internet, and accessed via atelecommunication system, such as a wireless telecommunication system.Controller 530 can be implemented using a computing device, such as amicro-controller, micro-processor, personal computer, or tabletcomputer. Controller 530 could be integrated to include nutritionalsubstance reader 590, consumer interface 560, and/or nutritionalsubstance database 550. Additionally, controller 530 may be integratedin conditioner system 510, including integration into conditioner 570.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-9 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

Consumer interface 560 can be implemented as a display device mounted oncontroller 530, conditioner system 510, or conditioner 570. However,consumer interface 560 is preferably a tablet computer, personalcomputer, personal assistant, or smart phone, running appropriatesoftware, such as an app.

While conditioner module 500 can be located in the consumer's home,conditioner module 500 may be located at a restaurant or other foodservice establishment for use in preparing nutritional substances 520for consumers who patronize such an establishment. Additionally,conditioner module 500 could be located at a nutritional substanceseller such as a grocery store or health food store for preparation ofnutritional substances 520 purchased by consumers at such anestablishment. It could be foreseen that conditioner modules 500 couldbecome standalone businesses where consumers select nutritionalsubstances for preparation at the establishment or removal from theestablishment for consumption elsewhere.

Additionally, controller 530 uses nutritional substance informationretrieved by nutritional substance reader 590 from nutritional substance420, or retrieved from nutritional substance database 550 usingreference information obtained by nutritional substance reader 590 fromnutritional substance 420, to dynamically modify the operation ofconditioner system 510 to maintain nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic properties of nutritional substance 420. For example, if thenutritional substance 420 is a ready-to-eat dinner, controller 530 couldmodify the instructions to conditioner system 530 in response to sourceand ΔN information regarding corn used in the ready-to-eat dinner suchthat a temperature and cooking duration can be modified to affect thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic properties of the corn. Further,the modified conditioning parameters may be directly intended tooptimize a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic property of the corntargeted by the transformer of the ready-to-eat dinner duringtransformation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the label on nutritionalsubstance 420 could contain the conditioning instructions fornutritional substance 420, or a reference, such as a dynamic informationidentifier, to such conditioning instructions in nutritional substancedatabase 550. In operation, this would allow controller 530 to obtaininformation about nutritional substance 420 on how to dynamicallyoperate conditioner system 510 to condition nutritional substance 420,without consumer intervention. Additionally, conditioning instructionsfor nutritional substance 420 could be provided for a variety ofdifferent conditioner systems 510, or conditioners 570, and controllercould select the proper conditioning instructions. The dynamic operationof conditioner system 510 may be directly intended to optimize anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic property of the nutritionalsubstance targeted by the transformer of the nutritional substanceduring transformation.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, nutritional substancereader 590 and/or conditioner system 510 measures or senses informationabout the current state of nutritional substance 520 and provides suchinformation to controller 530 to allow controller 530 to dynamicallymodify operation of conditioner system 510.

In an additional embodiment of the present invention, consumer 540provides information regarding their needs and/or desires with regard tothe nutritional substance 520 to consumer interface 560. Consumerinterface 560 provides this information to controller 530 so as to allowcontroller 530 to dynamically modify conditioning parameters used byconditioner system 510 in the conditioning of nutritional substance 520,or to request from nutritional substance database 550 dynamicallymodified conditioning parameters to be used by conditioner system 510 inthe conditioning of nutritional substance 520. Consumer's 540 needsand/or desires could include nutritional parameters, taste parameters,aesthetic parameters. For example, consumer 540 may have needs forcertain nutrients which are present in nutritional substance 520 priorto conditioning. Controller 530 could modify operation of conditionersystem 510 so as to preserve such nutrients. For example, conditionersystem 500 can cook the nutritional substance at a lower temperatureand/or for a shorter duration so as to minimize nutrient loss. Theconsumer's 540 needs and/or desires may be related to particularnutritional, organoleptic, an/or aesthetic values, and may additionallybe related to other nutritional substance attributes that areretrievable through the nutritional substance database 550 using adynamic information identifier, such as nutritional substance additives,preservatives, genetic modifications, origins, and traceability.Further, the consumer's needs and/or desires could be part of a consumerprofile provided to the controller 530 through the consumer interface560 or otherwise available to controller 530. The consumer's needsand/or desires could be exclusionary in nature, for example no productsof animal origin, no peanuts or peanut-derived products, no farm raisedproducts, no pork products, no horsemeat products, or no importedproducts. In these cases, the nutritional substance database 550 couldprovide information that would prevent the consumer from preparingand/or consuming products that the consumer cannot, should not, orprefers not to consume.

The consumer's 540 nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic desires couldinclude how rare or well done they prefer a particular nutritionalsubstance to be prepared. For example, consumer 540 may prefer hisvegetables to be crisp or pasta to be prepared al dente. With suchinformation provided by consumer 540 to controller 530 through consumerinterface 560, controller 530 can dynamically modify operation ofconditioner system 510 responsive to the consumer information andprovide a nutritional substance according to the consumer's desires.

In an embodiment of the present invention, controller 530 receivesinformation regarding the history of nutritional substance 420, currentinformation on nutritional substance 420, and consumer 540 needs ordesires, and dynamically modifies operation of conditioner system 510responsive to the information so as to provide a nutritional substanceaccording to the consumer's needs or desires. For example, ifnutritional substance 420 is a steak, controller 530 would receivereference information, such as a dynamic information identifier,regarding the steak, nutritional substance 420, from nutritionalsubstance reader 590. Controller 530 would use this referenceinformation to obtain information about the steak from nutritionalsubstance database 550. Controller 530 could also receive currentinformation about the steak from nutritional substance reader 590 orconditioner 510. Additionally, controller 530 could receive consumer 540preferences from consumer interface 560. Finally, controller 530 couldreceive information from conditioner system 510 during the conditioningof the steak, nutritional substance 420. Using some or all of suchinformation, controller 530 would dynamically modify the cooking of thesteak to preserve, optimize, or enhance organoleptic, nutritional, andaesthetic properties to meet the consumer's 540 needs. For example, thesteak could be cooked slowly to preserve iron levels within the meat,and also cooked to well-done to meet consumer's 540 taste.

Conditioner system 510 can prepare a nutritional substance for consumer540 which contains a plurality of nutritional substances 520.Conditioner module 500 includes recipe database 555 which is operablyconnected to controller 530. Recipe database 555 can be part ofnutritional substance database 550, or it can be a stand-alone database.While recipe database 555 can be located locally, it is preferablyaccessible to many conditioner modules 500 through a telecommunicationssystem such as the internet, including wireless telecommunicationssystems.

Controller 530 is also preferably connected to consumer database 580.Consumer database 580 may be additionally connected to consumerinterface 560. Consumer database 580 could include consumer's 540organoleptic and nutritional needs, and consumer 540 preferences, andcould be in the form of a consumer profile custom tailored to anindividual consumer or selected from a menu of consumer profiles.Consumer database 580 may receive input regarding consumer 540 fromconsumer 540, but could also include information supplied by consumer's540 medical records, exercise records for the consumer's gym, and otherinformation sources. Consumer database 580 could include informationregarding regulatory actions and/or manufacturer warnings or recalls ofnutritional substances which may be obtained, have been obtained, or maybe prepared or consumed by the consumer. Additionally, consumer database580 could include information regarding consumer's 540 preferencesprovided by controller 530 for previous nutritional substance 520conditionings. Finally, consumer database 580 could include consumerpreferences from external sources such as restaurants and grocery storeswhere consumer 540 purchases nutritional substances 520. Finally,consumer database 580 could include information from consumer module600, in FIG. 1.

Consumer database 580 could be a local database maintained by controller530 or consumer interface 560. Preferably, consumer database 580 is partof a nutritional substance industry database containing such informationregarding a plurality of consumers 540.

For example, controller 530 can operate to select the necessaryingredients, nutritional substance 420, to prepare a meal. In this case,nutritional substance 420 could be a plurality of nutritional substances420. In operation, consumer 540 could select a dinner menu usingconsumer interface 560. Additionally, consumer 540 could select aspecific recipe from recipe database 555 or could select a recipe sourcewithin database 555, such as low salt meals or recipes by a certainwell-known chef. Controller 530 could prepare a shopping list forconsumer 540 through consumer interface 560. Alternatively, controller530 could transmit a shopping list to a nutritional substance 420supplier such as a grocery store, so consumer 540 could pick up suchitems already selected or could have such items delivered.

Alternatively, if instructed by consumer 540 to utilize nutritionalsubstances on hand, which have been logged into controller 530 throughnutritional substance reader 590, controller 530 could modify or suggesta recipe that used only nutritional substances 520 available toconditioner module 500. For example, if consumer 540 instructsconditioner module 500 through conditioner interface 560 that consumer540 would like Italian food in the style of a well-known Italian chef,controller 530 would utilize information in its various databases toprepare such a meal. In this case, controller 530 would match itsinventory of available nutritional substances with recipes from thewell-known Italian chef in recipe database 555 and find availablerecipes. Controller 530 could select a recipe that optimized consumer's540 needs and preferences and prepare a meal using conditioner system510. Alternatively, controller 530 could present various options toconsumer 540 using consumer interface 560, highlighting features of eachavailable meal from the standpoint of consumer's 540 nutritional needsand/or preferences.

In FIG. 9, nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555, andconsumer database 580 are part of nutritional substance industrydatabase 558. Controller 530 would communicate with nutritionalsubstance industry database 558 through a communication system such asthe internet, and preferably a telecommunications system such aswireless telecommunications. In such an arrangement, controller 530could even verify that local supermarkets have the items in stock,retrieve and transmit a route to get to the supermarket from theconsumer's current location, and further retrieve and transmit a routeto follow within the supermarket to efficiently obtain the items.

It is important to note that while FIGS. 6-8 of various embodiments ofthe present invention show nutritional substance database 550 as part ofthe conditioner module 500, they are in no way limited to thisinterpretation. It is understood that this convention is only one way ofillustrating the inventions described herein, and it is furtherunderstood that this is in no way limiting to the scope of the presentinvention. The same is understood for recipe database 555, consumerdatabase 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558. Forexample, any of nutritional substance database 550, recipe database 555,consumer database 580, and nutritional substance industry database 558can be contained within information module 100 or within conditionermodule 500.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a consumer wishing tocondition a nutritional substance using a conditioning applianceaccording to the present invention can determine, and knowingly affect,the true residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of thenutritional substance after he puts it in the conditioning appliance. Todo so, the consumer would scan a dynamic information identifier providedwith the nutritional substance using a scanner provided with theconditioning appliance. This enables the conditioning appliance'scontroller to retrieve, from the nutritional substance industrydatabase, information related to changes in nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic values (ΔN information) referenced to the dynamicinformation identifier. Thereafter, the conditioning appliancecontroller can request and receive input from the consumer by providingoptions for the consumer to choose from through a consumer interface,also referred to herein as a dynamic nutritional substance menu panel,which may be a panel, screen, keyboard, or any known type of userinterface. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel provides theconsumer with the ability to input the desired end results for theresidual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value that will remainafter conditioning, such as by choosing among different possible endresults offered by the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. Thecontroller then creates, or retrieves from the nutritional substanceindustry database, adaptive conditioning parameters that are responsiveto: the ΔN information retrieved from the nutritional substance industrydatabase using the dynamic information identifier; and the consumerinput obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel.These adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred to herein as anadaptive preparation sequence, are then communicated to the consumer forimplementation through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, oralternatively, automatically implemented by the controller.

For example, the consumer is ready to prepare a macaroni and cheeseentrée using a combination microwave, convection, and grill oven,according to the present invention. Further, the consumer wants to servethe entrée as soon as possible. The consumer first uses the combinationoven's scanner to scan the dynamic information identifier provided withthe macaroni and cheese entrée. The dynamic information identifier maybe an optically readable label, an RFID tag, or any other known formatcompatible with the combination oven's scanner, attached to, orincorporated into, the nutritional substance or its packaging. Thecombination oven controller then retrieves the ΔN information referencedto the dynamic information identifier from the nutritional substanceindustry database. The conditioning appliance's controller additionallyrequests input from the consumer regarding the desired residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the macaroni and cheeseentrée following conditioning, by providing options for the consumer tochoose from through its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. It isunderstood that these options may be presented in any known fashion, andwhile particular presentation forms will be discussed herein, they arein no way limiting. In this example, the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel presents options for the consumer to choose from in a formatsimilar to the options provided by routing and navigation applications(i.e. “shortest distance”, “shortest time”, “least freeway travel”, andso forth). For instance, the options provided by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may be “fastest preparation time”, “highestnutritional value”, and “crispy topping” (corresponding to highestorganoleptic value for texture). The consumer can find out more detailedinformation regarding the residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values that will result from a particular option by selectingthat option, whereupon the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel willprovide a summary of the corresponding residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, also referred to herein as anutritional substance residual value table. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may further provide other useful information, suchas, but not limited to, the corresponding amount of conditioning timerequired to achieve the selected option. If the consumer determines thathe is not pleased with his selection based upon the more detailedinformation provided through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel, particularly the information in the nutritional substanceresidual value table, he can return to the previous screen and chooseanother option. The consumer can continue to select options, review themore detailed information in the corresponding nutritional substanceresidual value table, as well as the other useful information provided,until he determines that an option meets his requirements. Upondetermining that an option meets his needs, particularly needs relatedto the information about residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values summarized by the nutritional substance residual valuetable, the consumer proceeds with the option using the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel, such as by selecting “proceed”. Theconditioning appliance controller then implements the adaptivepreparation sequence, that is, the adaptive conditioning parameters thatare responsive to: the ΔN information it has retrieved from thenutritional substance industry database using the dynamic informationidentifier provided with the macaroni and cheese entrée; and theconsumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. The adaptive preparation sequence assures that the consumer willbe provided with a conditioned macaroni and cheese entrée that meets hisneeds, particularly his needs related to residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the conditioned entrée.

In one example of the present invention, the consumer wishing to preparethe macaroni and cheese entrée selects the “fastest preparation time”option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he needs toeat as soon as possible. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panelthen provides the consumer with a nutritional substance residual valuetable showing the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that will result from adaptively conditioning the macaroni andcheese entrée with the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, andadditionally provides the amount of time required to do so. The consumerdetermines from the nutritional substance residual value table that oneof the entrée's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of thisexample, its complex carbohydrate content, will be 20% of its startingvalue. It is understood that the nutritional substance residual valuetable may provide any number of individual residual nutritional values,such as residual protein content, residual folic acid content, and soforth, and that those provided for the purpose of this example are in noway limiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value maybe provided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 10%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be al dente,a rating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take only 10minutes. Today, preparation time is the most important criteria to theconsumer, so he proceeds by placing the macaroni and cheese entrée intothe combination oven, closing its door, and selecting the “proceed”option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The combinationoven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel on the various settings and time requirements toadaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entrée according to theadaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, the combination oven'scontroller can automatically implement the adaptive preparationsequence, so that the consumer is free to do other things while theentrée is adaptively conditioned. In this example, the adaptivepreparation sequence requires mostly the application of microwave athigh intensity with a few seconds of grill at the end of the sequence tocause a small amount of crispness in the topping.

FIGS. 13 a and 13 b show formats according to the present invention bywhich a ΔN, and related residual and initial nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic values, may be expressed. The ear of corn shown on amicrophone stand and labeled “INNIT” in FIGS. 13 a and 13 b represents anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value associated with anutritional substance. While any object may be chosen to represent anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value, in a preferredembodiment, the chosen object corresponds to a logo, symbol, mascot, orother object associated with a Brand. Such a Brand might be associatedwith a nutritional substance information system according to the presentinventions, a Measurement, Inspection, Engineering, Regulatory,Certification, or other Standard, or any other Brand associated with thenutritional substance and information industry. The object chosen torepresent a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value is alsoreferred to herein as a ΔN meter. In the following examples, the ΔNmeter is the ear of corn shown on a microphone stand and labeled “INNIT”shown in FIGS. 13 a and 13 b, and corresponds to the logo of theprovider of a nutritional substance information system according to thepresent inventions.

In FIG. 13 a, a ΔN meter according to the present invention communicatesvarious items regarding a nutritional value, for instance Vitamin-Cvalue, in a corresponding nutritional substance, for instance, a cartonof orange juice provided with a dynamic information identifier. Aconsumer desiring information regarding Vitamin-C values of the orangejuice can use his smartphone to scan the dynamic information identifierand determine the desired information. In this example, the informationis presented to the consumer on the screen of his smartphone in the formof the ΔN meter shown in FIG. 13 a. The ΔN meter of this examplecommunicates symbolically through color, and color changes, the initialVitamin-C value, the current Vitamin-C value, and an expired Vitamin-Cvalue. The values may be shown as relative values without units ofmeasure, as shown, or may further be provided with actual units ofmeasure. In this example, the consumer is provided with a conceptualindicator regarding how much the Vitamin-C value has degraded relativeto its initial value and where its current Vitamin-C value is relativeto the expiration value of the Vitamin-C.

In FIG. 13 b, a ΔN meter according to the present invention communicatesvarious items regarding a nutritional value, for instance Vitamin-Cvalue, in a corresponding nutritional substance, for instance, a cartonof orange juice provided with a dynamic information identifier. Aconsumer desiring information regarding Vitamin-C levels of the orangejuice can use his smartphone to scan the dynamic information identifierand determine the desired information. In this example, the informationis presented to the consumer on the screen of his smartphone in the formof the ΔN meter shown in FIG. 13 b. The ΔN meter of this examplecommunicates symbolically through percent fill-level, and percentfill-level changes, the initial Vitamin-C value, the current Vitamin-Cvalue, and an expired Vitamin-C value. The values may be shown asrelative values without units of measure, as shown, or may further beprovided with actual units of measure. In this example, the consumer isprovided with a conceptual indicator regarding how much the Vitamin-Cvalue has degraded relative to its initial value and where its currentVitamin-C value is relative to the expiration value of the Vitamin-C.

On another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare another oneof the same macaroni and cheese entrées in his combination oven. Heremembers that the last time he did, he was impressed with the speed ofpreparation, but wished it would have had higher residual complexcarbohydrate values and also wished it had a more crispy topping. Todayhe has no time constraints, and is more interested in the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can be achieved. Hescans the dynamic information identifier with the scanner on hiscombination oven. The oven's controller retrieves ΔN informationreferenced to the dynamic information identifier from the nutritionalsubstance industry database and additionally requests input from theconsumer regarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the macaroni and cheese entrée followingconditioning, by providing options for the consumer to choose fromthrough its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The options are“fastest preparation time”, “highest nutritional value”, and “crispytopping”. The consumer selects the “highest nutritional value” optionfrom the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he wants to eat ahealthy meal. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then providesthe consumer with a nutritional substance residual value table showingthe residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that willresult from adaptively conditioning the macaroni and cheese entrée withthe corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionallyprovides the amount of time required to do so. The consumer determinesfrom the nutritional substance residual value table that one of theentrée's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example,its complex carbohydrate content, will be 80% of its starting value. Itis understood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual protein content, residual folic acid content, and so forth, andthat those provided for the purpose of this example are in no waylimiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value may beprovided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 30%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be aldente, arating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take 40minutes. Today, residual nutritional value is the most importantcriteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by placing the macaroni andcheese entrée into the combination oven, closing its door, and selectingthe “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel.The combination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entréeaccording to the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence.Alternatively, the combination oven's controller can automaticallyimplement the adaptive preparation sequence, so that the consumer isfree to do other things while the entrée is adaptively conditioned. Inthis example, the adaptive preparation sequence requires mostly theapplication of convection heat with a minute of grill at the end of thesequence to cause a small amount of crispness in the topping withoutburning the cheese exposed to the grill.

On yet another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare anotherone of the same macaroni and cheese entrées in his combination oven. Heremembers that the last time he did, he was impressed with the highresidual nutritional value of the entrée, but wondered if he couldachieve a still more crispy topping while achieving acceptable residualnutritional value. Today he has no time constraints, and is moreinterested in the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that can be achieved. He scans the dynamic information identifierwith the scanner on his combination oven. The oven's controllerretrieves ΔN information referenced to the dynamic informationidentifier from the nutritional substance industry database andadditionally requests input from the consumer regarding the desiredresidual nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the macaroniand cheese entrée following conditioning, by providing options for theconsumer to choose from through a consumer interface, also referred toherein as a dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. The options are“fastest preparation time”, “highest nutritional value”, and “crispytopping”. The consumer selects the “crispy topping” option from thedynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he initially wants to findout what the residual nutritional value will be if he prepares theentrée according to his organoleptic preference for a crispy topping.The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then provides the consumerwith a nutritional substance residual value table showing the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that will result fromadaptively conditioning the macaroni and cheese entrée with thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionally providesthe amount of time required to do so. The consumer determines from thenutritional substance residual value table that one of the entrée'sresidual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example, itscomplex carbohydrate content, will be 75% of its starting value. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual protein content, residual folic acid content, and so forth, andthat those provided for the purpose of this example are in no waylimiting. It is also understood that residual nutritional value may beprovided as an aggregated value based on several independent residualnutritional values. The consumer may additionally determine from thenutritional substance residual value table that the entrée's residualorganoleptic value for the crispness of its topping after conditioning,will be 97%, where 0% represents not at all crisp and 100% representsvery crisp. It is understood that the nutritional substance residualvalue table may provide any number of individual residual organolepticvalues, such as a rating to determine if the macaroni will be aldente, arating for overall moistness of the casserole, and so forth, and thatthose provided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting.It is also understood that residual organoleptic value may be providedas an aggregated value based on several independent residualorganoleptic values. The consumer also determines from the dynamicnutritional substance menu panel that the conditioning will take 90minutes. Today, the residual organoleptic value related to the toppingcrispness is the most important criteria to the consumer, and he hasverified that he makes only a small sacrifice in the residualnutritional value to achieve this, so he proceeds by placing themacaroni and cheese entrée into the combination oven, closing its door,and selecting the “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel. The combination oven can now instruct the consumer throughits dynamic nutritional substance menu panel on the various settings andtime requirements to adaptively condition the macaroni and cheese entréeaccording to the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence.Alternatively, the combination oven's controller can automaticallyimplement the adaptive preparation sequence, so that the consumer isfree to do other things while the entrée is adaptively conditioned. Inthis example, the adaptive preparation sequence requires mostly theapplication of low convection heat with 3 intervals of 1 minute of grillat the end of the sequence to cause a significant amount of crispness inthe topping.

FIG. 12 shows an alternate embodiment of a conditioner module accordingto the present invention, wherein a conditioner, also referred to hereinas a conditioning appliance, may have features enabling it tocommunicate with an alternate database that facilitates identificationof a nutritional substance to be conditioned without the need for adynamic information identifier. Such features may include, but are notlimited to, sensors capable of measuring and collecting data regardingvisual appearance, taste, smell, volatiles, texture, touch, sound,chemical composition, temperature, weight, volume, density, hardness,viscosity, surface tension, and any other known physical attribute ofthe nutritional substance, and are also referred to herein asnutritional substance attribute sensors. These may include, but are notlimited to, optical sensors, laser sensors, cameras, electric noses,microphones, olfactory sensors, surface topography measurementequipment, three dimensional measuring equipment, chemical assays,hardness measuring equipment, ultrasound equipment, impedance detectors,temperature measuring equipment, weight measurement equipment, and anyknown sensor capable of providing data regarding a physical attribute ofa nutritional substance. The alternate database would consist of amassive library of nutritional substance attribute data, related to thevisual appearance, taste, smell, texture, touch, chemical compositionand any other known physical attributes, referenced to correspondingnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states of known nutritionalsubstances, and is herein referred to as the nutritional substanceattribute library.

At this juncture it can be understood that a nutritional, organolepticor aesthetic value of a nutritional substance can be indicated by itsolfactory values. Typically, but not necessarily, olfactory values aredetectable by the human sense of smell. However, nutritional substancemay emit or produce gaseous components that are not detectable ordiscernable by the human sense of smell but, nevertheless, may beindicative of particular nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic stateof the nutritional substance. In addition, olfactory values can beindicative of contamination or adulteration of nutritional substances byother substances.

It is understood that the utilization of the nutritional substanceattribute sensors according to the present invention can providebeneficial information regarding adulteration or mislabeling ofnutritional substances.

In an example of a conditioning appliance equipped with nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors, a consumer places a turkey breast in acombination microwave, convection, and grill oven equipped withnutritional substance attribute sensors. The nutritional substanceattribute sensors collect a variety of physical attribute data from theturkey breast. The conditioning appliance's controller then transmitsthe physical attribute data collected to the nutritional substanceindustry database, for comparison to the nutritional substance attributelibrary contained therein. It is understood that while FIG. 12 shows thenutritional substance industry database as part of the conditionermodule, it may reside in the information module. It is furtherunderstood that while the nutritional substance attribute library isshown as part of the nutritional substance industry database, this onlyfor the purposes of example and not intended to be limiting in any way,and it may reside within the information module or may exist as anindependent database. When a match is found for the physical attributedata collected from the turkey breast placed in the conditioningappliance, the nutritional substance industry database can determinethat the matching nutritional substance attribute library datasetcorresponds to a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values, and that it weighs 2 pounds and is at a temperature of40 deg. F. Thereafter, the conditioning appliance controller can requestinput from the consumer by providing options for the consumer to choosefrom through a consumer interface, also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional substance menu panel, which may be a panel, screen,keyboard, or any known type of user interface. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel provides the consumer with the ability to input thedesired end results for the residual nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that will remain after conditioning, such as by choosingamong different possible end results offered by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The controller then creates, or retrieves from thenutritional substance industry database, adaptive conditioningparameters that are responsive to: the nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic value information retrieved from the nutritional substanceindustry database using the nutritional substance attribute library; andthe consumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel. These adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred toherein as adaptive preparation sequence, are then communicated to theconsumer for implementation through the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel, or alternatively, automatically implemented by thecontroller.

In the above example, the consumer is ready to prepare a turkey breastusing a combination microwave, convection, and grill oven equipped withnutritional substance attribute sensors. The consumer places the turkeybreast in the combination oven, where the oven's nutritional substanceattribute sensors sense various physical attribute data from the turkeybreast. The combination oven controller then transmits the sensedattribute data to the nutritional substance industry database forcomparison to the nutritional substance attribute library. Thenutritional substance industry database determines that the sensed datamatches the nutritional substance attribute library datasetcorresponding to turkey breast having specific nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, and also determines that its weightand temperature. The conditioning appliance's controller additionallyrequests input from the consumer regarding the desired residualnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the turkey breastfollowing conditioning, by providing options for the consumer to choosefrom through its dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. It isunderstood that these options may be presented in any known fashion, andwhile particular presentation forms will be discussed herein, they arein no way limiting. In this example, the dynamic nutritional substancemenu panel presents options for the consumer to choose from in a formatsimilar to the options provided by routing and navigation applications(i.e. “shortest distance”, “shortest time”, “least freeway travel”, andso forth). For instance, the options provided by the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may be “fastest preparation time”, “highestnutritional value”, and “tender” (corresponding to highest residualoganoleptic value for texture). The consumer can find out more detailedinformation regarding the residual nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic values that will result from a particular option by selectingthat option, whereupon the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel willprovide a summary of the corresponding residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, also referred to herein as anutritional substance residual value table. The dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel may further provide other useful information, suchas, but not limited to, the corresponding amount of conditioning timerequired to achieve the selected option. If the consumer determines thathe is not pleased with his selection based upon the more detailedinformation provided through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel, particularly the information in the nutritional substanceresidual value table, he can return to the previous screen and chooseanother option. The consumer can continue to select options, review themore detailed information in the nutritional substance residual valuetable, as well as the other useful information provided, until hedetermines that an option meets his requirements. Upon determining thatan option meets his needs, particularly needs related to the informationabout residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic valuessummarized by the nutritional substance residual value table, theconsumer can proceed with the option by using the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel, such as by selecting “proceed”. The conditioningappliance controller then implements adaptive conditioning parametersthat are responsive to: the information it has retrieved from thenutritional substance industry database by comparing sensed physicalattribute data to the nutritional substance attribute library; and theconsumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. These adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred to hereinas adaptive preparation sequence, assure that the consumer will beprovided with an adaptively conditioned turkey breast that meets hisneeds, particularly his needs related to residual nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values of the adaptively conditioned turkeybreast.

In one example of the present invention, the consumer wishing to preparethe turkey breast selects the “fastest preparation time” option on thedynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as he needs to eat as soon aspossible. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panel then provides theconsumer with a nutritional substance residual value table showing theresidual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that willresult from adaptively conditioning the turkey breast with thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionally providesthe amount of time required to do so. The consumer determines from thenutritional substance residual value table that one of the turkeybreast's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of this example,its residual protein content, will be 60% of its starting value. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual nutritional values, such asresidual complex carbohydrate content, residual fat content, residualfolic acid content, and so forth, and that those provided for thepurpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is also understoodthat residual nutritional value may be provided as an aggregated valuebased on several independent residual nutritional values. The consumermay additionally determine from the nutritional substance residual valuetable that the turkey breast's residual organoleptic value fortenderness after conditioning will be 10%, where 0% represents not atall tender and 100% represents very tender. It is understood that thenutritional substance residual value table may provide any number ofindividual residual organoleptic values, such as a rating to determineif the turkey breast will be well done, a rating for overall moistnessof the turkey breast, and so forth, and that those provided for thepurpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is also understoodthat residual organoleptic value may be provided as an aggregated valuebased on several independent residual organoleptic values. The consumeralso determines from the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel thatthe adaptive conditioning will take only 8 minutes. Today, preparationtime is the most important criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds byselecting the “proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menupanel. The combination oven can now instruct the consumer through itsdynamic nutritional substance menu panel on the various settings andtime requirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according tothe corresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application ofmicrowave at high intensity with a few seconds of grill at the end ofthe sequence to cause a small amount of crispness in the skin.

On another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare a similarturkey breast in his combination oven. He remembers that the last timehe did, he was impressed with the speed of preparation, but wished itwould have had higher residual protein value and also wished it had beenmore tender. Today he has no time constraints, and is more interested inthe residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can beachieved. He places the turkey breast in the combination oven, where theoven's nutritional substance attribute sensors sense various physicalattribute data from the turkey breast. The conditioning appliance'scontroller then transmits the physical attribute data collected to thenutritional substance industry database, for comparison to thenutritional substance attribute library contained therein. When a matchis found for the physical attribute data collected from the turkeybreast, the nutritional substance industry database can determine thatthe matching nutritional substance attribute library dataset correspondsto a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues, and that it weighs 2.2 pounds and is at a temperature of 42 deg.F. The controller additionally requests input from the consumerregarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the turkey breast following conditioning, by providing optionsfor the consumer to choose from through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The options are “fastest preparation time”,“highest nutritional value”, and “tender”. The consumer selects the“highest nutritional value” option from the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel, as he wants to eat a healthy meal. The dynamicnutritional substance menu panel then provides the consumer with anutritional substance residual value table showing the residualnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that will result fromadaptively conditioning the turkey breast with the correspondingadaptive preparation sequence, and additionally provides the amount oftime required to do so. The consumer determines from the nutritionalsubstance residual value table that one of the turkey breast's residualnutritional values, for the purpose of this example, its proteincontent, will be 90% of its starting value. It is understood that thenutritional substance residual value table may provide any number ofindividual residual nutritional values, such as residual complexcarbohydrate content, residual folic acid content, residual fat content,and so forth, and that those provided for the purpose of this exampleare in no way limiting. It is also understood that residual nutritionalvalue may be provided as an aggregated value based on severalindependent residual nutritional values. The consumer may additionallydetermine from the nutritional substance residual value table that theturkey breast's residual organoleptic value for tenderness afterconditioning will be 50%, where 0% represents not at all tender and 100%represents very tender. It is understood that the nutritional substanceresidual value table may provide any number of individual residualorganoleptic values, such as a rating to determine if the turkey breastwill be well done, a rating for overall moistness of the turkey breast,and so forth, and that those provided for the purpose of this exampleare in no way limiting. It is also understood that residual organolepticvalue may be provided as an aggregated value based on severalindependent residual organoleptic values. The consumer also determinesfrom the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel that the conditioningwill take 40 minutes. Today, residual nutritional value is the mostimportant criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by selecting the“proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. Thecombination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according to thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application ofconvection heat with two minutes of grill at the end of the sequence tocause a small amount of crispness in the skin without burning the skinexposed to the grill.

On yet another day, the same consumer is again going to prepare asimilar turkey breast in his combination oven. He remembers that thelast time he did this he was impressed with the high residualnutritional value of the turkey breast, but wondered if he could achievea still more tender turkey breast with acceptable residual nutritionalvalues. Today he has no time constraints, and is more interested in theresidual nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic values that can beachieved. He places the turkey breast in the combination oven, where theoven's nutritional substance attribute sensors sense various physicalattribute data from the turkey breast. The conditioning appliance'scontroller then transmits the physical attribute data collected to thenutritional substance industry database, for comparison to thenutritional substance attribute library contained therein. When a matchis found for the physical attribute data collected from the turkeybreast, the nutritional substance industry database can determine thatthe matching nutritional substance attribute library dataset correspondsto a turkey breast with known nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues, and that it weighs 2.1 pounds and is at a temperature of 41 deg.F. The controller additionally requests input from the consumerregarding the desired residual nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the turkey breast following conditioning, by providing optionsfor the consumer to choose from through its dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel. The options are “fastest preparation time”,“highest nutritional value”, and “tender”. The consumer selects the“tender” option from the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, as heprefers to eat a tender piece of turkey breast if he can determine thatit is still a healthy meal. The dynamic nutritional substance menu panelthen provides the consumer with a nutritional substance residual valuetable showing the residual nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticvalues that will result from adaptively conditioning the turkey breastwith the corresponding adaptive preparation sequence, and additionallyprovides the amount of time required to do so. The consumer determinesfrom the nutritional substance residual value table that one of theturkey breast's residual nutritional values, for the purpose of thisexample, its residual protein content, will be 88% of its startingvalue. It is understood that the nutritional substance residual valuetable may provide any number of individual residual nutritional values,such as residual complex carbohydrate content, residual folic acidcontent, residual fat content, and so forth, and that those provided forthe purpose of this example are in no way limiting. It is alsounderstood that residual nutritional value may be provided as anaggregated value based on several independent residual nutritionalvalues. The consumer may additionally determine from the nutritionalsubstance residual value table that the turkey breast's residualorganoleptic value for tenderness after conditioning will be 98%, where0% represents not at all tender and 100% represents very tender. It isunderstood that the nutritional substance residual value table mayprovide any number of individual residual organoleptic values, such as arating to determine if the turkey breast will be well done, a rating foroverall moistness of the turkey breast, and so forth, and that thoseprovided for the purpose of this example are in no way limiting. It isalso understood that residual organoleptic value may be provided as anaggregated value based on several independent residual organolepticvalues. The consumer also determines from the dynamic nutritionalsubstance menu panel that the conditioning will take 80 minutes. Today,residual organoleptic value, specifically tenderness, is the mostimportant criteria to the consumer, so he proceeds by selecting the“proceed” option on the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel. Thecombination oven can now instruct the consumer through its dynamicnutritional substance menu panel on the various settings and timerequirements to adaptively condition the turkey breast according to thecorresponding adaptive preparation sequence. Alternatively, thecombination oven's controller can automatically implement the adaptivepreparation sequence, so that the consumer is free to do other thingswhile the turkey breast is adaptively conditioned. In this example, theadaptive preparation sequence requires mostly the application of lowconvection heat with two cycles of 3 minutes of grill at the end of thesequence to cause a moderate amount of crispness in the skin.

In an embodiment of the present invention, conditioner 570 is providedwithout controller 530 and nutritional substance attribute sensors 591,however it is provided in a format to be compatible with controller 530and nutritional substance attribute sensors 591. Such a conditioner isalso referred to herein as an information and sensing capableconditioner. In contrast, traditional conditioners, also referred toherein as dumb conditioners, are not information and sensing capable,are not compatible with controller 530 and nutritional attribute sensors591, and accordingly will always be dumb conditioners. As informationand sensing enabled conditioning systems according to the presentinvention are increasingly available, dumb conditioners will becomeincreasingly obsolete.

Information and sensing capable conditioners may be provided in avariety of configurations known to those skilled in the art, and theexamples offered herein are for purposed of illustration and notintended to be limiting in any way. In one example of an information andsensing capable conditioner, it is provided with traditionalfunctionality, that is, it will interact with nutritional substances ina traditional fashion. However, the information and sensing capableconditioner is compatible with separately available controller 530 andnutritional substance attribute sensors 591, such that at any timeduring or after the manufacture and sale of the information and sensingcapable conditioner, controller 530 and nutritional substance attributesensors 591 may be coupled with the information and sensing capableconditioner to enable the full functionality and benefit of conditionermodule 500. Information and sensing capable conditioners provideappliance manufacturers and consumers great flexibility, and will notbecome obsolete like dumb conditioners.

The coupling of controller 530 and nutritional attribute sensors 591 tothe information and sensing capable conditioner may take any physicaland/or communication format known to those skilled in the art. These mayinclude, but are not limited to: an information and sensing capableconditioner provided with Bluetooth, or other wireless near-fieldcommunication capability, to communicate with a communication-compatiblecontroller 530, wherein nutritional substance attribute sensors 591 arecoupled with, or in communication with, controller 530. The controller530 may be any of a completely separate unit, an externally attachableunit, and an internally placed unit, while portions of the nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors may be positioned in proximity to, on, orwithin the conditioner 570, such as in ports or windows provided withthe information and sensing capable conditioner; an information andsensing capable conditioner provided with a USB port, or otherelectrical communication capability, to communicate with acommunication-compatible controller 530, wherein nutritional substanceattribute sensors 591 are coupled with, or in communication with,controller 530. The controller 530 may be any of a completely separateunit, an externally attachable unit, and an internally placed unit,while portions of the nutritional substance attribute sensors may bepositioned in proximity to, on, or within the information and sensingcapable conditioner, such as in ports or windows provided with theinformation and sensing capable conditioner; an information and sensingcapable conditioner provided with a fiber optic port, or other opticalcommunication capability, to communicate with a communication-compatiblecontroller 530, wherein nutritional substance attribute sensors 591 arecoupled with, or in communication with, controller 530. The controller530 may be any of a completely separate unit, an externally attachableunit, and an internally placed unit, while portions of the nutritionalsubstance attribute sensors may be positioned in proximity to, on, orwithin the information and sensing capable conditioner, such as in portsor windows provided with the information and sensing capableconditioner; or an information and sensing capable conditioner providedwith WiFi, or other wireless communication capability, to communicatewith a WiFi compatible controller 530, wherein nutritional substanceattribute sensors 591 are coupled with, or in communication with,controller 530. The controller 530 may be any of a completely separateunit, an externally attachable unit, and an internally placed unit,while portions of the nutritional substance attribute sensors may bepositioned in proximity to, on, or within the conditioner 570, such asin ports or windows provided with the information and sensing capableconditioner. It is understood that the controller 530 may be providedwith its own consumer interface, may communicate and be operated throughthe consumer interface provided with the information and sensing capableconditioner, or a combination of both.

It is understood that nutritional substance attribute sensors accordingto the present inventions, can beneficially be provided with, orcombined with, other nutritional substance modules, includingtransformation, preservation, and consumer modules. For example, thenutritional substance attribute sensors could be provided with the localstorage environments, containers, and coupons described herein.Nutritional substance attribute sensors, or at least a portion of thenutritional substance attribute sensor, could be provided with orincorporated into the package of any pre-packaged nutritional substance,such that a consumer may interrogate the package without disrupting itsintegrity to obtain information related to a nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance contained therein.Further, nutritional substance attribute sensors, or at least a portionof the nutritional substance attribute sensor, could be provided with,coupled to, or incorporated into smartphones. This would enable a widearray of users and scenarios wherein nutritional substances can beidentified and their current nutritional, organoleptic, and aestheticstate can be determined.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., to say, in thesense of “including, but not limited to”), as opposed to an exclusive orexhaustive sense. As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” orany variant thereof means any connection or coupling, either direct orindirect, between two or more elements. Such a coupling or connectionbetween the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, refer to this application as awhole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where thecontext permits, words in the above Detailed Description using thesingular or plural number may also include the plural or singular numberrespectively. The word “or,” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any ofthe items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combinationof the items in the list.

The above Detailed Description of examples of the invention is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific examples for the invention are describedabove for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications arepossible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in therelevant art will recognize While processes or blocks are presented in agiven order in this application, alternative implementations may performroutines having steps performed in a different order, or employ systemshaving blocks in a different order. Some processes or blocks may bedeleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified to providealternative or sub-combinations. Also, while processes or blocks are attimes shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks mayinstead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may be performed atdifferent times. Further any specific numbers noted herein are onlyexamples. It is understood that alternative implementations may employdiffering values or ranges.

The various illustrations and teachings provided herein can also beapplied to systems other than the system described above. The elementsand acts of the various examples described above can be combined toprovide further implementations of the invention.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts included insuch references to provide further implementations of the invention.

These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain examples of the invention, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theinvention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its specific implementation, while still beingencompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific examplesdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also allequivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under theclaims.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the invention is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, other aspects may likewise be embodiedas a means-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as beingembodied in a computer-readable medium. Any claims intended to betreated under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6 will begin with the words “means for.”Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to add additional claimsafter filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms forother aspects of the invention.

1. A dynamic nutritional substance identification system comprising:sensors for sensing physical attributes of a nutritional substance; anda library comprising datasets of the physical attributes referenced toknown nutritional substances at known nutritional, organoleptic, andaesthetic states, wherein sensed physical attributes are compared withthe datasets to determine a matching dataset; and a consumer interfacefor communicating a dynamic nutritional value table responsive to thematching dataset.
 2. A dynamic nutritional substance identificationsystem according to claim 1 wherein the sensors are part of, integratedinto, added to, or compatible with a nutritional substance conditioningsystem.
 3. A dynamic nutritional substance identification systemaccording to claim 1 wherein the sensors are part of, integrated into,added to, or compatible with a nutritional substance local storageenvironment, container, or coupon.
 4. A dynamic nutritional substanceidentification system according to claim 1 wherein the sensors are partof, integrated into, added to, or compatible with a smartphone.
 5. Adynamic appliance for tracking changes in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values of nutritional substances, comprising: a local storagesystem or conditioner for a nutritional substance; and an appliancecontroller for tracking a change in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance, and an appliance sensorfor detecting a dynamic information identifier provided with thenutritional substance, wherein the dynamic information identifier isreferenced to information regarding the change in nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value and information regarding origin andcreation of the nutritional substance.
 6. A dynamic appliance fortracking changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values ofnutritional substances according to claim 5, wherein said trackingenables an improvement, maintenance, or minimization of degradation ofthe nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value.
 7. A dynamicappliance for tracking changes in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values of nutritional substances according to claim 5, whereinsaid tracking enables determination of compliance, or non-compliance,with general consumer requirements, or with a specific consumer'srequirements.
 8. A dynamic appliance for tracking changes innutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of nutritional substancesaccording to claim 5, wherein said tracking enables the nutritionalsubstance to be adaptively stored responsive to the change innutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value.
 9. A dynamic appliancefor tracking changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valuesof nutritional substances according to claim 5, wherein said trackingenables the nutritional substance to be adaptively conditionedresponsive to the change in nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue.
 10. A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:a controller for detecting values of physical attributes of anutritional substance and a consumer's input regarding the nutritionalsubstance; and sensors for sensing the values of physical attributes ofthe nutritional substance; and a library comprising datasets of thephysical attributes referenced to known nutritional substances at knownnutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic states, wherein sensed physicalattributes are compared with the datasets to determine a matchingdataset; and an input panel for acquiring the consumer's input; whereinthe controller provides an adaptive conditioning sequence responsive tothe matching dataset and the consumer's input.
 11. A conditioning systemfor nutritional substances according to claim 10 wherein: the adaptiveconditioning sequence is communicated to the consumer.
 12. Aconditioning system for nutritional substances according to claim 10wherein: the adaptive conditioning sequence is implemented by thecontroller.
 13. An appliance system for tracking changes in nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic values of nutritional substances, comprising:a local storage or conditioning appliance for a nutritional substance,wherein the local storage or conditioning appliance is compatible with adynamic appliance controller; and a dynamic appliance controller fortracking a change in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value ofthe nutritional substance and detecting a dynamic information identifierprovided with the nutritional substance, wherein the dynamic informationidentifier is referenced to information regarding the change innutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and information regardingorigin and creation of the nutritional substance.
 14. A method foradaptively conditioning nutritional substances comprising the steps of:sensing values corresponding to physical attributes of a nutritionalsubstance; and detecting a consumer's input regarding the nutritionalsubstance; and comparing the values to a library comprising datasets ofsensed physical attribute values referenced to known nutritionalsubstances at known nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic states; anddetermining a matching dataset and corresponding nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic state; and providing an adaptive conditioningsequence responsive to the corresponding nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic state and the consumer's input.